SplitxEnd
by Green Phantom Queen
Summary: Sidestory to Horseshoes and Hand-grenades. Yayoi Tokuda tries to understand her place in the world as she begins to uncover the incidents behind the War of the Stars. However, run-ins with men in white lab coats, phantoms, cute boys who like donuts and evil serpents are some of the obstacles in her path of uncovering the truth, along with letting go of a past that still haunts her.
1. Routine

**SplitxEnd**

Author: Green Phantom Queen

Rating: T

Summary: Meet Yayoi Tokuda, bored college student who's trying to understand her place in the world after her stint as the Coma Zodiarts. Her life revolves around classes, coming home to be with her best friend JK and writing. However, after learning about the death of Gentaro Kisaragi, and the story of the War of the Stars, Yayoi's life begins to change in ways she never thought possible.

Note: This is a side story to "Horseshoes and Hand-grenades" and is not necessary to read to understand the plot.

**Split 1: Routine**

"_The less routine the more life."_

_-Amos Bronson Alcott_

"_Have you ever wondered that your life is nothing more than a sequence of events that just keep repeating on and on ad infinitum?"_

That's what I thought to myself as I listened to the lecture on Charles Darwin and evolution. While everyone is listening intently to the lecture, I'm doodling away in my notebook, trying to find a way to make the minutes go by faster. Outside of my class, it's a beautiful day. The clouds have parted to reveal the sun shining down and wishing everyone would have a wonderful afternoon.

I wish.

In case you don't know who I am, my name is Yayoi Tokuda. I'm a college student who recently graduated Amanogawa High after an...incident with me being some sort of star based monster who could make replicas of other monsters using my hair. I wasn't lying on what I said.

Anyway, after I calmed down and had time to accept that I was growing up, I found myself going through the routine of going to my classes, heading to the library when I didn't have classes, and basically watching the world go by. I sometimes would recollect the happy memories I made when I was head of the newspaper club, taking pictures of the students of Amanogawa High with my trusty camera in hand. I used to know every student's birth dates, hobbies, blood types and their favorite foods, in case you didn't know.

But that's in the past, and my protege/childhood friend JK, has taken up my cause. He's probably preparing to meet up with his friends in the "Kamen Rider Club" that he keeps telling me all about. It's supposed to be a club that honors the legendary Kamen Riders and also fights off the Zodiarts—monsters based off the constellations—that wreaked havoc across Amanogawa High. Needless to say, he was a bit shocked when he found out that I became one of them, but after he learned of my excuse, he gave me an apologetic hug and told me he forgave me.

I cried the minute he patted my back with a reassuring hand.

My thoughts are interrupted by the professor telling us to have a nice day, signaling the end of class. Everyone starts to pack up, including me. I'm already slipping my bag over my shoulder while I tuck my pen behind my ear and place my books away. Another day of classes done, and the next thing to do is go home where JK and his father were at. Just like what happened yesterday, and the day before that, etc...

Nothing's happened since I graduated and, most of the time, I have to accept that.

**0-0-0-0-0**

The walk home was quiet, as usual. Technically, home was with my mother and father, but they're doing some important business in Hokkaido at the moment. For now, home was with JK and his father.

Okay, you're probably wondering why my friend's named JK. First off, it's like the Western name "Jake", minus the vowels. Second, it's because his name is similar to his father's, and he insisted on calling himself JK to differentiate between the two. He's been called that ever since we were little kids. My parents and his father were close friends, so the two of us got along pretty well. We were like two peas in a pod, until JK went to the dark side in middle school due to something that happened to his...

No, that subject is to be kept secret until JK's ready to let go. I won't divulge until he's ready to say what needs to be said.

That's what I wanted to tell him as I enter his home. Instead of seeing JK strumming on his guitar, he's on the sofa with crumbled tissues near his feet. I quickly remove my shoes and drop my bag onto the nearest chair as I rush toward my friend.

"What happened?" I asked. "What's going on?"

"Yayoi-chan," JK answered, grasping onto my shoulders. "It was horrible...he's dead..."

"Who? Is it your dad? Did he drown in some sort of storm while out at sea?"

"No, dad's fine. It's Gentaro..." JK blinked the tears that are now falling from his eyes. "He was murdered..."

Gentaro...that sparked a memory in my head. Gentaro Kisaragi, the delinquent who wished to befriend everyone in Amanogawa High. Anyone who was anyone knew about him—mostly because he would go up to them and immediately befriends them without batting an eyelash. Why does he do it? Because he can, and that's as good of a reason, right?

Still, to have someone like him die so young...how was that even possible?

"How did it happen?" I asked. "JK, who killed Gentaro?"

"Ryusei," JK quickly answered. "He comes in and kills Gentaro with the one-inch punch. He made some sort of deal with the Aries Zodiarts."

"Aries Zodiarts? Who's he?"

"Yamada Tatsumori, member of the Drama Club. He exchanged places with Ryusei for that transfer student program."

Of course he did. Talk about irony.

"And Ryusei sided with Yamada for what? JK..." I placed a hand over his own. He notices this and stares into my eyes. "What happened? Was it by gun shot or knife wound? Was it a blow to the head and blood pour out?"

"No, nothing of the sort," JK answered back, shaking his head. "It was death by one-inch punch."

Who did Ryusei train under? Bruce Lee? To kill someone with a punch like that, and to perfect that technique at such a young age, was a terrifying thought. Moreover, who the hell would _teach_ that move? Isn't that something that you don't want in the hands of someone as unstable as Ryusei Sakuta?

Still, this wasn't my time to speak. I just stayed silent as JK continued to speak.

"It's my fault," He exclaimed, head in his hands. "I didn't do a background check on Ryusei and Gentaro was so willy-nilly on getting him into the Kamen Rider Club after a punch to the face." He threw a pillow onto the ground. "We just went along like we were sheep and he was this shepherd who brainwashed us. Tomoko was the only one who actually had half of a mind to suspect something was wrong, but even that wasn't enough."

"It's not your fault," I told him. "If you didn't know, you didn't know. You can't beat expect to know everything at once. Sometimes, you have to keep searching for the answers."

"I had the chance and I blew it! I'm a horrible person! I failed him..."

I stayed silent and hugged JK as he continued to sob. I didn't know how to console him in regards to that last statement. It wasn't his fault.

**0-0-0-0-0-0**

JK's dad, Keizou Jingu, entered the house a few hours later, and he cooked dinner for the three of us. JK wasn't feeling that hungry—even though we were having grilled mackerel for dinner, which was his favorite. I was pushing aside the fish bones on my plate as I remembered what JK told me about Gentaro's death.

Gentaro...died happy. He helped Ryusei by dying to resurrect a friend, and for what? The dead don't come back to life, and if they did they'd never return as who they originally were.

"JK," said Keizou, noticing his son not even touching his meal. "What's the matter? You haven't been this down about dinner since...that incident."

No one talked about "that incident", particularly because of how Keizou needed to retire from his rock-star career and become a fisherman to support his son. It was also because of that incident that JK and I decided to go into the information business. What was it like to study people and what they did? Who were they and why were they like that? Those were the questions we pondered after the events of "that incident".

"I'm fine, dad," JK replied, taking some kimchi into his mouth. Once he swallowed, he continued to speak. "Something happened today and...someone died."

"It wasn't a suicide was it?" asked Keizou. Suicides were one of the things we had trouble discussing, mostly because it related to "that incident." The word 'suicide' had very dark implications for the three of us.

"No, it wasn't. He died in a fight and I just stood there and did nothing."

"If you didn't know, you didn't know," said Keizou, placing a hand on his son's back. "Don't beat yourself up about it. You did that for three months after...that incident."

"I'm still beating myself cause of that."

"She wouldn't have wanted you to be so down. She'd want you to keep living your life and following your dreams. Please Kaizou...don't..."

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" JK screams, standing up. "I told you never to call me that again!"

"JK, calm down!" I said, also standing up. "JK, please..."

"Just leave me alone!" JK exclaimed, pushing me out of the way. "I...need to be alone."

He stormed toward the stairs, his feet stomping with each step. Once he made it toward his room, he slammed the door shut. I sat down and placed my head into my own hands, unsure as to what I could do to cheer him up.

"He'll come around, Yayoi," said Keizou, passing a plate of apple slices my way. "Apple bunny?"

I stared at the apple slices and the V-shape of the peel that resemble rabbit ears. Every now and then, the three of us have apple rabbits in honor of her and "that incident". I took one into my mouth and began to eat, trying to ignore what I knew was the heartbreak and pain that JK was going through. This wouldn't have been the first time that he was unable to save someone important him, but it probably won't be the last time he cried himself to sleep.

It must be hard being him, having to put on a happy smile on his face while subsequently breaking down inside.

**0-0-0-0-0-**

A few days later, we all attended Gentaro Kisaragi's funeral.

JK was up front with the other members of the Kamen Rider Club: Kengo, Yuki, Shun, Miu and Tomoko. Ohsugi-sensei was with them, most likely as the club adviser, and was sobbing about school uniforms and the like. I was sitting in the far back with Keizou, amazed at the number of mourners attending the service. JK definitely wasn't kidding at how Gentaro was able to make a thousand friends in the span of ten years.

Up on the stands was Gentaro's grandfather, Goro Kisaragi. From what I understood, Gentaro's parents died when he was only eight, but he still kept smiling. To be able to stay positive after suffering through that type of trauma would've killed most children his age, just like it nearly killed JK. Yet Gentaro proved that there was still something to smile upon even when you know that the people you loved would no longer come back to life. If only JK had that willpower to forgive himself for "that incident"...then, his life would be so much better. Until then, he'll keep staring at an old bedroom for her...

As I began to apply more makeup, I thought I saw someone in my compact mirror. They stuck out because he was the only one wearing black—whereas all the mourners were draped in white. The person didn't notice my presence though. However, I knew from the outfit he was sporting who that person was.

It was Gentaro Kisaragi. He was alive.

I looked back at the stage where Gentaro's memorial shrine stood. Amongst the flower bouquets and numerous candles was the face of a boy with bright eyes and a smile that could light anyone's day. I turned my gaze back to where I saw Gentaro in my compact, but he was now gone. Was it some sort of illusion? Was I hallucinating?

No. I don't hallucinate. What I saw was the truth. Gentaro Kisaragi was alive somehow, that's all I needed to know. The only question on my mind was whether or not JK knew that for certain.

If he _did_ know about Gentaro's resurrection, then I had some questions regarding the story he told me.


	2. Information

**SplitxEnd**

**Split 2: Information**

"_Information is not knowledge."_

_-Albert Einstein_

I didn't hear from JK until after he brought Kengo to the hospital later that evening. He said something about a snake bite that came out of nowhere, but that was all. Clearly, there was more to Gentaro's death than meets the eye.

For one thing, the dead cannot come back to life. If Gentaro was not dead as JK claimed, then why lie to his grandfather? Why have hundreds of mourners appear? In fact...I don't even think there was even a body to be found. If that's so, how did JK _know_ that Gentaro was truly dead.

More and more questions ran through my brain as I scribbled some notes down. Keizou was preparing more fish for dinner. It was pan-fried salmon with a teriyaki glaze. It was definitely the type of food you wanted when you needed to think a lot. Combined with a warm bowl of _tonjiru_ and rice, this was a dinner that would help me kickstart my investigation on the death of Gentaro Kisaragi.

The door opened as JK entered with a weary, "I'm home." Keizou welcomed his son back and told him to wash up for dinner. JK replied with a nod and walked upstairs, preparing to change out of his dull, white clothes for some vibrant pajamas. I waited until his feet began to stomp downstairs before speaking.

"JK," I told him. "Are you sure that Gentaro's dead?"

JK stops dead in his tracks, trying to read my facial expressions. I just raise an eyebrow at him, waiting for his explanation.

"What are you getting at?" He said slowly.

"I saw Gentaro at the funeral. He was all dressed in black and had pale skin. He's alive, JK."

"That's impossible!" JK exclaimed. "He died in front of my eyes! Ryusei killed him with the one-inch punch and..."

"What happened after that?" I stood up and walked to him. "JK, what happened after that? Think about it long and hard. Please..."

"I..." JK closed his eyes and tried to recall what happened. "There was lots of anger and tears. Shun wanted to rip Ryusei in half. Then, next thing I know, I'm dressed like a student of Subaruboshi High and in my hands is a script telling me to go kill other students."

_Kill_ students? Yamada made my plans for making other Zodiarts not graduate child's play. Still, I kept writing everything down as JK kept trying to remember what happened next.

"After that, I stood up to Yamada and ripped that shitty script he gave us right in front of his eyes. Then-"

"Who exactly is 'us'?" I asked, interrupting him.

"That would be me, Shun, Miu, Yuki and Tomoko. Kengo somehow made it out unscathed. I didn't see him until...funny," JK began to scratch his head. "After I was tied up to a post since Yamada swapped roles—with the Kamen Rider Club being the ones who were about to be killed—Ryusei came and he started kicking ass."

"Ryusei had a sudden change of heart? Why?"

"It must've had something to do with that deal he and Yamada had," JK shrugged his shoulders. "He stated that he wanted to atone for his sins, but I still can't forgive him. Death didn't have to be the answer to saving his friend! If Ryusei was in that much trouble, why didn't he ask us for help?"

"Either it was due to pride or he was told not to reveal too much about you," I answered.

"You're right about that—someone else was pulling the strings when Ryusei was Meteor. Who said person is, that's the hard part."

"After Ryusei came in, what happened?" This was the important part. Somehow inbetween Ryusei's entrance to save JK and JK coming home was the clue that I needed to get to the bottom of this mystery. "JK, think a little harder."

"I-I don't know," JK answered. "Ryusei was on the ground and Yamada was unconscious. There were no signs of the Dustards—"

"Dustards?"

"Star based ninjas that won't hesitate to kill you."

"Oh."

"When we were finally let loose, we went to Kengo and Ohsugi-sensei. They were crying over Gentaro's dead body. Except..."

"Except...what?" I asked.

"...There _was_ no body."

There was a huge hole in JK's alibi. Inbetween the time that Gentaro died, Kengo's escape and after Ryusei began his redemption, _something_ happened to Gentaro. But what? There had to be a logical explanation for all of this.

I was interrupted by Keizou answering the phone. After a few seconds, he handed it to JK who immediately nodded his head and answered with a quick "Yes" or "No". After he hung up, JK said, "Ohsugi-sensei wants to see me at his house. It's about Gentaro."

"Do what you must," said Keizou. "I'll leave you some food when you come back."

JK nodded his head, rushed to the front door, slipped on some sneakers, then ran off to wherever he needed to go. Keizou then set two plates of salmon teriyaki for the two of us. I felt my stomach growl. Maybe after some food, I would be able to come up with a good theory once I had a full stomach...I hope.

**0-0-0-0-0-**

I had nothing.

For the first time in my life, I couldn't connect the dots to JK's memory loss and Gentaro's appearance at the funeral. It wasn't logical...unless it didn't have to be.

I don't know what got into me, but I went online and began searching the forums for answers. Hopefully there was _someone_ with an answer to my numerous questions.

**SplitxEnd: **Are there any forces that intolve resurrection of bodies and memory loss? A couple of days ago, a boy died to the one-inch punch, but I saw him attending his funeral. My little brother stated that he saw him die, but he can't recall after a specific point. Does anyone have a clue?

I posted my message and went to my homework. It was some textbook on evolution—particularly about snakes. What was so important about the evolution of snakes somehow? Their ancestors were four-legged lizards that some how devolved into footless creatures that slid around on their bellies. They didn't seem so appealing to me.

I slowly read page by page until it felt like I was going to fall asleep on my desk. After reading twenty out of the mandatory twenty five pages, I slammed the book shut and went to my computer. In the time it took me to read the chapter, I received a reply from a friend on the forums.

**KRSwan: **That's a very interesting story. Maybe there was a necromancer involved and maybe the memory loss was used by the necromancer to forget that they revived the boy. When a person is revived, nine times out of ten they _never _return as their original self.

A necromancer? That was possible, seeing as there was no body to be found. However, who would want to resurrect Gentaro? And why? More importantly, where could one find a necromanceriat this day and age?

With what JK told me, there was something weird: Kengo escaped and took Gentaro's body with him, but somehow inbetween that and when JK met up with him at the Kamen Rider Club headquarters, Gentaro was gone and Kengo and Ohsugi-sensei were crying over nothing—literally! Ohsugi-sensei and Kengo were the only ones in the clubroom with Gentaro at that time, so there was no possible way for a necromancer to engage in some ritual to resurrect him. Ugh, there were too many holes in this theory.

**SplitxEnd: **There couldn't have been a necromancer when there were only two witnesses, neither of them knowing the dark arts. It's not possible that the dead suddenly got up and walked off without anyone noticing...

I stopped typing and paused. Could Gentaro have done that? If that was the case, then some otherworldly presence had to be involved. I tried to remember what Gentaro was wearing. It was a black jacket, pants and a torn red shirt. He had pale skin and dark eyes. That was it.

I posted my reply and waited for KRSwan's reply. From what I knew of her, she lived in America and she wrote this story about her friend fighting someone known as General Xaviax. Her username came from the female Kamen Rider—Kamen Rider Swan. I wasn't even aware that Kamen Riders could be female, but that's another story.

Letting out a sigh, I went to the search engines in an attempt to find _anything_ related to Gentaro's death, but there was nothing. While I did find some stuff about some old legends about people turning into zombies, the poison needed to make Gentaro one would've taken _forever_ to make. Moreover, the body had to be buried, not cremated. Ugh...what was I missing?!

I decided to go back to Gentaro's files in Amanogawa High's database. His birthdate was November 30th, so I ran that through my mind. He was a Scorpio, simple as that.

No, it wasn't.

When I checked his Zodiac sign—all Amanogawa High students had to state that in their submission forms for a very odd reason—it wasn't a large M with an arrow at the very end. It was a U with a wavy line going through it. I did a double check and found something very interesting.

Gentaro was born under the sign of Ophiuchus.

I did a bit of research on Ophiuchus and figured out that there was a big debate on whether or not this Serpent-bearer deserved to be with the other twelve signs. It mostly stemmed from its position of constellation boundaries between November 29th and December 17th. The zodiac system wasn't that popular in most countries, but it was in Japan.

I narrowed my eyes in suspicion—this _couldn't_ have been a coincidence.

Researching his origins, Ophiuchus was once named after Asclepius, the man who could resurrect the dead and learned the secrets of immortality. Then, Zeus struck him down with a bolt of lightning before sending him to the sky. Then, I just came up with the most far-fetched theory I ever had.

_Did the spirit of Asclepius resurrect Gentaro from the afterlife?_

I didn't want to immediately jump to conclusions, but there was something telling me that a clue could be found with Gentaro's birthdate and affiliation with the thirteenth Zodiac sign. I decided to write another post to KRSwan.

**SplitxEnd: **Swan, can you do me a big favor? I have to go to bed soon, but I need anything you know about the Western Zodiac and how it relates to Ophiuchus. I think I have a breakthrough, but I need a bit more evidence before I can press on with my theory. Thanks.

After sending the post, I turned off the computer, brushed my teeth, and went to sleep. The only thought in my mind was that JK was able to stand strong even after Gentaro's death, and that he would understand that whatever happened was not his fault.


	3. Tryst

**SplitxEnd**

**Split 3: Tryst**

"_Meetings are indispensable when you don't want to do anything."_

_-John Kenneth Galbraith_

The next morning at breakfast, JK told me that Chuta Ohsugi came up with a crazy theory: the teacher knew who was handing out all those switches.

"Even _I _couldn't believe the theory," he said. "It makes so much sense though. They were in close vicinity of the students, and knew who was who amongst the hundreds of the students roaming amongst the campus! It all makes so much sense now!"

"Then who was the crab that gave me my switch?" I asked.

"That was Natsuji Kijima."

I nearly smacked myself across the face. The president of the _rakugo_ club was Cancer Zodiarts? How did he become one of those Horoscope Generals? Especially since Hiroki Makise, Pyxis Zodiarts, was said to have nearly killed twenty students off an unfinished bridge! What did Kijima do to evolve?

"Nothing," JK replied. "He tried to frame Haruka-sensei for it just for a confiscated fan. That kind of tells you the type of mind he has."

_Tell me about it. _I thought. I let out a sigh and crossed my arms, trying to think of something else to say.

"JK," I said. "Where are you in the five stages of grief?"

"What do you mean by that?" JK asks with confusion.

"With Gentaro, you were in denial because you couldn't believe he was dead. And with her...you're still on depression, right?"

JK stayed still. Even if we no longer talk about 'that incident', I could see in his eyes that he was still in mourning for her. Everyone handles grief differently, and while I've come to accept it, it's still hard for JK to understand that what happened wasn't his fault.

"Regarding Gentaro, I know he would want us to finish what he started," he answered. "Regarding her...I don't know. I want to let go, but I need to see her one more time and tell her I'm sorry."

"It was never your fault. Now come on, why don't you try investigating Ryusei's files from Subaruboshi High? There might be some stuff that was kept hidden from you."

"Good idea." He rushed toward his room upstairs and said, "I''ll be right back. I need to bring my laptop and some hacking gear for this investigation."

I smiled and nodded my head as I heard JK climb upstairs and close the door to his room to prepare his bags. For now, we were all happy. That was all that mattered.

**0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

Classes the next morning were slow as a turtle walking through snow. My mind was still trying to figure out what happened with Gentaro. I knew JK long enough to know the tell-tale signs of him telling me lies, but he was actually telling me the truth...

Or at least the truth that he knew. That was the troublesome part.

His memories were tampered with—that's why he couldn't recall anything in-between Ryusei's entrance and his return to Kengo and Ohsugi-sensei. That's why I haven't been able to piece things together.

While the professor was talking about the chapter on snakes—I despised them with a passion—I was doodling the twelve Zodiac signs in a circle. In the middle of said circle was the one for Ophiuchus, the Serpent-bearer. Something was wrong here—why was Gentaro under the sign of Ophiuchus and not Scorpio? I know my theory was ridiculous but there was some deep connection between Gentaro's death, the memory loss and that sign.

Class ended as usual and I walk out of the campus all by my lonesome self. I looked at my watch and saw that it was only 3:15. That was enough time for me to get some croquettes before heading home for more studying and more speculating.

Near my school was an old-fashioned croquette stand. The man who worked there had been taking care of it since JK and I were little tots. Last summer, the two of us helped him work the stand and were paid quite nicely for our efforts. It was some of the happiest memories I had whenever JK was around, and now there weren't as many.

I'm not saying that I like him in a way that we were considered boyfriend and girlfriend, but after "that incident", JK needed someone to help cheer him up and I was the closest thing he had at that time as a true friend. Gentaro helped fill the void that was in his heart, but it was too good to last. He's gone...and he would never return.

I approached the croquette stand and paid for a newspaper bag filled with curry and cream crab croquettes. As I began to eat one, the manager—who JK and I affectionately called 'Kani-san'-noticed the look on my face.

"What's wrong, Toku-chan?" he asked, calling me by my nickname. "Is college making your life miserable?"

"It's not that, Kani-san," I replied. "It's about...JK feeling down about failing someone."

"Don't tell me it's not..."

"No, it's not about her. It's about a classmate of his. The classmate went by the name of Gentaro Kisaragi and he died by the one-inch punch."

"The one-inch punch?" Kani-san looked in shock. "You mean like the ones they use in kung-fu movies?"

"Apparently. It stopped his heart and everything. JK believes that by not getting the intel needed on the person who killed Gentaro, he became nothing more than a failure."

"It's not his fault, Toku-chan," Kani-san whispered, patting my head. "And it wasn't his fault about...that. He needs to understand that things just happen, and we should not blame ourselves for why they happen. They just do. Has he been seeing a counselor lately?"

"Not that I know of. He sings and plays the guitar, that's all. I think he's hiding his feelings so no one knows how upset and afraid he truly is. I wouldn't blame him, though." I finished my first croquette and wiped the grease off the corner of my lips with a napkin. "He's only on the first stage of grief."

"Denial," said Kani-san, sighing. "And he's still on 'depression' regarding her?"

"He can't let it go just yet. Not until he can confront her head on and hear her forgive him will he let go. At least, that's what he says."

"And if Gentaro were to do the same, would he accept his death that easily?"

I hesitated. What was Gentaro's reason for coming back to life? He died for the sake of his friend and his friends should go on living for his sake. He did his part and he should be in heaven with his parents. At least, that was supposed to happen. Now he's back and...was he the same as he was before? I don't know for sure.

"I should get going," I told Kani-san. "I have work to do and stuff."

"I understand," said Kani-san. "Say hello to Keizou for me."

I nodded my head and walked off, eating another croquette. I felt the spring air swirl around me, trying to comfort me as I went through theory after theory regarding Gentaro's death. I looked at the forums through my cellphone, hoping to hear from KRSwan. Unfortunately, I was too focused on scrolling to the latest post, that I didn't see someone walking my way.

I soon realized that I bumped into someone when I fell onto the ground and my bag of croquettes fell onto my lap.

"I'm so sorry," said the person. "Are you all right?"

"Aside from some greasy newspaper stains, I'll be good." I looked into the person I bumped into. It was a teenage boy with light brown hair and gentle blue eyes. Next to him was a girl with long black hair, dressed like a fortuneteller. They looked so cute together...were they boyfriend and girlfriend?

"That's a relief. I'm glad that I didn't hurt you in anyway."

"You and me both. I'm Yayoi. Nice to meet you."

"Haruto," the boy answered, bowing toward me. "And my friend here is Koyomi."

Koyomi just hid behind Haruto, like he was some sort of shield against the boogeyman. I smiled and handed a croquette to her as a sign of peace. She pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket and took it into her hands, taking a bite out of it. She looked so cute—it was like she was some sort of china doll. Once she finished the croquette, she nodded her head and whispered, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," I replied. "I should get going. I need to be home soon and-"

"Wait," interrupted Koyomi. "Yayoi, please be careful in the upcoming days."

"W-what do you mean by that?" I asked.

"Just be careful. People are going to come after you."

I stayed quiet as Koyomi and Haruto walked off. Who would come after me? I haven't done anything wrong after leaving Amanogawa High, and I mostly kept to myself. Did it have something to do with me searching Gentaro's reappearance?

I shook my head—no one knew that I was SplitxEnd online. I had nothing to worry about, minus JK's depression issues of course, so I decided to walk home and worry about how to console my dear friend before he really started to break down and cry.

**0-0-0-0-0-0**

"Oh, JK is off for some 'study date' at his school," said Keizou, once I asked him where JK was. "He'll be coming home a little late."

Study date? I didn't believe that for a second. Still, if JK needed some time to be by himself, so be it. I had more things to worry about.

I went to my computer and enterd the forums, hoping to find something from KRSwan and to talk to someone about meeting Koyomi and Haruto. Koyomi's words were still echoing in my head. I knew that I didn't have a lot of enemies—minus Jin, Ritsuko and Tamae over what I did in Amanogawa High, but they forgave me in the end—so who would come after me?

I went to the forums and found KRSwan's message. What I heard from her was something I never thought was possible.

**KRSwan: **I talked to my friend JTC and he says that Ophiuchus used to be a part of the Western Zodiac, but there was this big dispute and a giant battle regarding his people. Many of the serpents died out and the rest fled to Earth, becoming today's serpent-based gods. There's not a lot of information regarding the battle itself, except that it was because of this that Ophiuchus did not return to being a member of the Western Zodiac until just recently.

Well, that was new. Still, that didn't add up to Gentaro's resurrection. I decided to type her a message, knowing that I probably wasn't going to hear from her until tomorrow morning (seeing that she lived in California).

**SplitxEnd: **So the serpent gods were all extra-terrestrial entities? I guess it does make them 'gods' in a sense. Are there any texts relating to Ophiuchus and his species? Are there any articles that relate to Ophiuchus himself? It seems too...simplistic.

Sending the message, I sighed and began researching Ophiuchus and the battle that played out. There wasn't a lot to discover, only that there was a different legend behind the story of Ophiuchus. Asclepius was betrayed by the people he cared about and died in sorrow and anger. The serpent named Ophiuchus took over his dead body and thus Ophiuchus the Serpent-bearer was born. This gave me some concern. Did Ophiuchus the snake somehow caused Gentaro's resurrection? And if he did, did it have something to do with Ascleipus's despair over being betrayed?

And there was another question in my head: Why would Ryusei betray Gentaro? Gentaro never did anything bad to him and there must've been some other way that Ryusei could've saved his friend that didn't have to resort to death. Death is never the answer to anything.

I turned my computer off and went to the living room, hoping to find a solution in my sleep. Maybe I was just overworking my brain and thus I wasn't getting the right answers I needed. Yeah, that was it.

I closed my eyes and focused on my breathing, and soon I was asleep.


	4. Sojourner

**SplitxEnd**

**Split 4: Sojourner**

"_One might well say that mankind is divisible into two classes: hosts and guests."_

_-Max Beerbohm_

I found my answer after two hours, when JK suddenly burst into the house with a paint-splattered cap and long bangs streaked with purple. Wait…what?

I sat up and saw this stranger tackling me on the couch. He had JK's face and clothes, but his eyes…they were purple. That was _definitely_ not normal.

"Get off of me!" I screamed, driving my knee into this strange JK's stomach. I then tossed him onto the ground and pinned his wrists. "Who are you and what have you done with JK?"

"I _am_ JK!" the purple-eyed teen replied. "Or at least, I'm using his body to introduce myself to—"

He didn't finish as I found a pillow to beat the person to death. I had to get rid of the being that was possessing JK and…

Wait a minute…possession?

It was if a multitude of fireworks exploded in my mind. That's it! That's what's been going on with Gentaro! He was being possessed by a dark entity—presumably named Ophiuchus—that destroyed Yamada and made JK and his friends forget about him!

"That's it!" I cried, standing on my feet. "JK, or whoever is inside JK, you're a genius!"

"I am?" asked Not JK.

"You are! You helped me figure out the mystery behind Gentaro's resurrection! His body is being possessed by a dark entity related to the Zodiac sign of Ophiuchus! It brainwashed Kengo and Ohsugi-sensei to believing that he was dead, then destroyed Yamada for causing all of the strife in Subaruboshi High before erasing the memories of the Kamen Rider Club and making them believe that he was still dead! That's why no one can find his body and why everyone believes he's dead! Although, why he just doesn't kill Ryusei is what I don't understand."

Something happened with JK's body as I began to jump up and down like a happy school girl (well, technically I _am _a school girl, so I was hopping like an elementary school girl). An orb of light escaped JK's heart. It hovered around me before resting on the chair, transforming into some sort of purple dragon-type...thing with white gloves and a large set of headphones draped around its neck. It also had a large purple longcoat draping his body. I turned back and saw that JK was fine. I wasn't.

"W-what the?" I asked, trying to fine the right words. Even after that whole "star monster to make duplicates of people" schtick, there were some things that could still baffle me. "JK, what's going on?"

JK, who performed a kick-up to get back on his feet, stared at me with an expression that read, "This might be kind of hard to explain..." as his eyes started to dart back and forth. I wasn't impressed at the slightest, lowering my gaze and glaring at him as if I wanted to shoot lighting from my eyes. JK, realizing what I'm about to say, immediately starts talking.

"You wouldn't believe what happened today," he began. "I did research on Ryusei and there are absolutely _no records_ in Subaruboshi High! It's like he doesn't exist! And then Ryutaros-" he pointed to the purple dragon being swinging his head back and forth to some imaginary music. "He and these three other beings called Imagin, and a time-travelling train run by some cool dude who calls himself Owner, explains everything. Gentaro has been revived by some evil snake called Ophiuchus that wants to destroy the world."

"But why?" I asked. "Why does it have to be Gentaro? Couldn't Ophiuchus just use some else that beared his sign? There has to be hundreds of people in Japan born under the sign of the Serpent-bearer."

"Maybe it's because Gentaro recently died," JK suggested. "And he died by being betrayed by someone he considered close and by said person never being so altruistic as he seemed. I don't know who's to truly blame for this: Yamada for making the deal or Ryusei for actually accepting it."

"If I _ever_ get my hands on Yamada, I will wring his scrawny little neck for trying to make you kill other students and for even causing this mess in the first place," I snarled. "Where is he?"

"He's probably in his own dream world," JK said with a shrug of his shoulders. "He's been taken into the hospital and is currently stuck in a coma."

"That's too nice for him," I said, adjusting my glasses. "Do you know what he's done?"

"By telling Ryusei to kill Gentaro, instead of saying 'capture him' or 'snatch the Fourze Driver', Ryusei complied and caused Gentaro to go to the dark side and is now going to kill _us_ because he believes that we couldn't do anything to help him. In fact, we wanted to, but we couldn't since Ryusei had the chance to kill us too, and now we're probably about to see the world end thanks to some _mother fucking_ sociopath who treated everyone like they're Rosencrantz and Guildenstern!" JK was panting for breath and nearly pulling his hair as he finished his rant. I wouldn't blame him for that—after all, Ryusei's one-inch punch was the horseshoe nail that changed everything for the worst.

"You swore!" said Ryutaros, standing up. "I'm telling your mother and-"

"My mom's dead, Ryutaros. If you want to talk to her, go to her grave."

"O-oh," Ryutaros sat down, looking ashamed. I couldn't actually blame him on that. JK's mother died when he was around five, but he already accepted that. 'That incident', however...that's something he had to work on his own.

"JK," I said softly, seeing JK sit on the couch and balling his fists in anger. "I know you're angry, but right now you have a job to do in regards to helping Gentaro see the light. Gentaro wouldn't want you to be mad that you didn't do anything—he'd be happy to know that you're going to help him out."

"I know," JK let out a long, drawn-out sigh. "It's to this end that I'm going to become a Kamen Rider to help protect the world from this injustice and-"

"What did you say?" Did I just hear things correctly? JK, the kid I knew since we were little, was about to become a _Kamen Rider_? That was...improbable!

"Oh, I didn't tell you that?" He asked me. "Well, Ryutaros and I can become Kamen Rider Den-O...or at least, one version of him. It's another long story. The fact is that we're also getting help from former Kamen Riders: Riderman and Amazon!"

I knew a bit about the old Kamen Riders from internet forums. I thought they were all just urban legends until Gentaro began parading around as Kamen Rider Fourze. JK continued to tell me about how Riderman and Amazon were going to help plan out this big thing for the Kyoto Field Trip in two days, the fact that Ohsugi-sensei was right that the school faculty was behind the Zodiarts and that they even gained an ally from one of the Horoscopes Generals themselves. I just stood there, taking everything in.

"And I'd really think it would be cool if you joined us," he finished. "Will you?"

I wanted to say yes...but I just couldn't. It's not that I didn't _want_ to be with them—it's more like I didn't belong in that group. My job wasn't to fight off against supernatural threats; it was to obtain information for people. Plus, I didn't actually have any skills that could help me win in hand-to-hand combat as opposed to JK's break-dancing skills and the ability to transform into a Kamen Rider. I shook my head.

"I can't," I answered. "I mean, it's nice that you would think of me in that way, but I can't join you until I gained enough evidence to help you with your case."

"What do you mean?" JK asked. "Owner told us everything we needed to know: Ophiuchus did it during the time Gentaro was taken to the Kamen Rider Club's headquarters and made a deal with him."

"But why? We don't have a concrete answer, and you know I'm not satisfied until I'm 100% accurate with what I have. Just do me one little favor..."

"What's that?"

"Don't tell anyone that I'm doing these secret investigations. Right now, you guys need to prepare for your two-day trip in Kyoto. All I have to prepare for are some papers and quizzes."

"Yayoi," JK went to my side and places a hand on my shoulder. "Why are you acting so alone right now? Is anything bothering you?"

There was, actually. Koyomi's warning echoed in my mind and if something bad was going to happen to me, what about JK, Keizou and my parents? Would they be harmed if they get in the crossfire? My parents had an important business deal, Keizou needed to provide financial support for him and JK, and JK needed to focus on the danger up ahead. Worrying about me could come later.

"I'm just...tired," I replied, removing the hand. "I need to be alone."

"Bye-bye, Yayoi-chan!" Ryutaros cried, waving a hand to me as I climbed upstairs. I waved back before lying down on my bed, feeling angry and twisted and conflicted all at once. JK was doing so much, and it felt like I just couldn't be of benefit at all. What's a reporter to do?

After a few seconds, I stood up and went to my computer. Logging into the forums, I found that KRSwan sent me a new message.

**KRSwan: **It took some doing, but I found some old scrolls that talk about the king, Ouroboros. He was the leader against the twelve Horoscopes and his death caused the remaining serpents to flee to Earth. Where King Ourobors is now, it's unknown. I don't have much translated, but I do know that Ophiuchus was the closest to the king himself.

That added a bit more information to what I had, but still not enough. It all came back to my "Gentaro's resurrection" question: Why him? Hoping to find another answer, I replied.

**SplitxEnd: **Thanks for the information. I also figured out what happened: Ophiuchus possessed the boy and now the boy has been resurrected. The boy now has powers like the ability to erase memories and to place people into comas. The only question that's bugging me is why? Why is it specifically that boy? It's not like there are other dead bodies to be used.

I stared back at my message, something inside me wanting to ask KRSwan about the whole reporter thing. She stated that she temporarily fought during the battle against General Xaviax, but decided that she belonged in the journalism world. I wanted to do my best to fight, but what could I do? In the end, I felt like I was just dragging them down.

Feeling my heart beat against my chest, I typed another paragraph.

**(continued): **Also, I'm worried. I got a warning that have to be careful about something, but I don't know what. Moreover, my little brother is also preparing to fight Ophiuchus and the boy, and asked me to come along. Unfortunately, I don't feel like I'm capable of being any help. They have so many fighters and I'm just a reporter who doesn't even have enough information to help them out. What should I do?

A knock was on my door just as I finished sending the message. I opened it and saw Ryutaros with a crayon drawing in his hand. It depicted me being hugged by JK with little music notes surrounding us.

"Don't be sad," said the Imagin, handing me the picture. "Cheer up, Yayoi-chan!"

I took the picture into my hands and smiled a bit. It was very sweet for Ryutaros to draw this even if he barely knew me. I replied by giving him a hug.

"Thank you," I said. "Thank you very much."

"You're welcome, Yayoi-chan," Ryutaros replies, patting my shoulder. "Also, JK asked if you wanted to eat out tonight."

JK and I haven't had a chance to eat out in quite some time. Plus, it would be nice to get out of the house and just be normal for a chance...before Ophiuchus decides to change the world for the worst, anyhow. I smiled and nodded my head.

"Good idea," I said, grabbing a light jacket from my closet. "Let's paint the town red tonight."

"Yay!" said Ryutaros, jumping up and down. "I'll get my paintbrush! This will be fun!"

Before I had the chance to say it was an expression, he's already off to JK's room to tell the good news. I looked down at the picture and went to my tape dispenser, ripping a small piece to tape the picture to my door. I'm very glad that JK was taking the time to comfort me in my troubles...if only I could do the same to him.

I shook my head to clear the negative thoughts away. Tonight, it was going to be the two of us for a nice dinner before preparing for the days ahead. That was all that mattered.


	5. Fete

**SplitxEnd**

**Split 5: Fete**

"_A good conscience is a continual feast."_

_-Robert Burton_

JK, and I decided to spend our evening at an _okonomiyaki_ restaurant about two blocks away. Ryutaros wanted to join, so he jumped into JK's chest. Fortunately, no physical changes were made to my friend, which was a good thing because JK and I would probably be kicked out of the restaurant due to the Imagin's shennanigans.

The restaurant had an area for patrons to collect whatever ingredients they wanted for their _okonomiyaki_ and it was sometimes hard to decide what you wanted to put in while balancing how much your stomach could handle. Normally, I would be paying attention to that, but my mind was so focused as to what I just learned:

-Gentaro was possessed by a serpent known as Ophiuchus. Ophiuchus was once a man named Asclepius and then the serpent possessed his body. Ophiuchus used to be a true member of the Zodiac, but then there was a battle called "War of the Stars" that broke out and many of his brethren became deities of Earth.

-The missing Sarina Sonada, who was supposedly on a sabbatical, was the Scorpio Zodiarts. Her whereabouts are unknown. Also, Principal Kouhei Hayami is Libra Zodiarts and Natsuji Kijima was the Cancer Zodiarts (cue me slapping myself on the forehead since Kijima gave me my Zodiarts Switch).

-There are other Kamen Riders that are willing to help. JK has become a form of one Kamen Rider known as Kamen Rider Den-O: Gun Form and there were other Kamen Riders –and Amanogawa High students—willing to help out with the cause.

There were other things I was learning, but those were the top three on my mind. I finally gathered my ingredients before walking back to where JK and I were seated for the evening. Sitting at our booth, JK dumped slices of fish, shrimp and cheese, into the mixture of cabbage and batter before ladling out in the griddle before us. As the _okonomiyaki_ began to sizzle, that's when I spoke.

"JK," I began. "Are you sure you're coping with all of the trauma?"

"I'm fine," JK answered, waving his hand as if to state his mental sanity was all right. I wasn't convinced, and he knew that. When he noticed me not nodding my head, he sighed. "All right, I confess. I'm not happy at all—I just want to convince myself that I'm happy to hide the fact that I'm not as good as everyone else. I don't have any fighting skills to become a Kamen Rider. I mean: Motoyama was a former Zodiarts, Chosuke is the leader of the delinquents for a reason and Shun was the King of Amanogawa High for a reason. What do I have in comparison to them?"

"First off, you're quick on your feet. Your love of break-dancing means that you can pull off some incredible moves and make you pretty agile against most enemies. Second, you're an incredible information gatherer. You know how to get into everyone's most private parts of their lives. Heck, you're even better than _me_ in some levels on that."

"You're just saying that."

I sighed and poured my _okonomiyaki _batter of beef slices, onions, carrots and zucchini onto the griddle, seeing the edges of the batter slowly start to brown. All of the other guests were having fun, decorating their _okonomiyaki_ by using the mayonnaise to draw cute little designs. One family was drawing a flower, another had a heart and someone else had the patience to create the kanji of...something. I couldn't see what it was from where I was sitting.

"JK, stop beating yourself up," I told him. "You're going to do fine. Now, about the whole gun thing..."

"I'm going to be practicing with rubber bullets," JK quickly answered. "The guys in the DenLiner don't trust Ryutaros with a regular gun."

"Why's that? Isn't the Den-O form you're transforming into called 'Gun Form'? That sounds a bit hypocritical if you ask me."

"Well, he has a bit of a thing with stuff like this. Hana told me of a time where this nefarious organization got their hands on Owner's special Liner Pass and Ryutaros possessed his former host Ryotaro and started arresting anyone who looked like he was part of an evil organization."

"...Really?"

As if to answer my question, JK bowed his head before lifting it up, revealing that Ryutaros was now in control. Ryutaros flipped the _okonomiyaki_ over and took the bottle of mayonnaise into his hand.

"It was so much fun, though!" He explained, squirting mayonnaise out of the bottle. "I got to chase people and beat them up!"

"That's...very interesting," I commented, seeing the mayonnaise slowly began to create something. "Um, what are you drawing?"

"Ta-da!" Ryutaros cried. "I drew the faceplate for my Kamen Rider form! It's not as good as the real thing, but it looks pretty tasty!"

I looked at the design. It looked like the head of a dragon and two long whiskers. It was pretty good for something made of mayonnaise. I flipped my _okonomiyaki_ and then took the mayonnaise bottle next to me, doing my best to create my own picture. Ryutaros stared in delight as I finished it in a few quick strokes. It was the sun with the center being a large spiral.

"Ah, that's so cute!" Ryutaros commented.

"It's sort of based on my name," I explained. "_Yayoi_ used to be the calendar name for March. Funnily enough, _Kisaragi_ used to be the name for February. In that sense, March comes after February like how I'm chasing after the cause of Gentaro's death."

"You'll do great, Yayoi-chan! You already figured out so much!" Ryutaros took his hands into my own. "Just keep doing what you need to do, and we'll take care of kicking Kisaragi's butt! Everything will turn out right in the end. So keep smiling, all right?"

Funny how the Imagin's the optimist out of the three of us. If only things were like that during 'that incident'...

**0-0-0-0-0-**

We paid for our meal then headed towards home, our stomachs full and our minds at peace. The air was nice and cool, and being with JK made me feel like nothing could wrong.

Still...I was worried about what Koyomi told me earlier. Who would want to go after me, and why would they? I mean, I did apologize to Tamae, Ritsuko and Jin for framing them as Zodiarts, and JK already forgave me. Kijima disappeared sometime during Spring Break so I highly doubt he could come back to haunt me.

"JK," I began. "Please me honest with me about something."

"What is it?" he asked.

"Well...do I have any one that might try to kidnap me? Or better yet, do I have any enemies?"

"Not that I know of. I highly doubt you could be one to be kidnapped by men in white lab coats off the streets to be used in evil experiments. Hey, you could end up like Claude Rains in _The Invisible Man _if you want!"

"Being used for experimentation is only in sci-fi fiction."

"Says the girl who turned into an alien-like monster that could make replicate monsters out of her own hair."

"Touché," I muttered under my breath.

"Well," JK clapped his hands. "We need to get going to bed."

I nodded my head and stifled a yawn. I needed to give my mind a break from the massive load of information I just received. Besides, Koyomi couldn't have been telling the future. I mean, no one has the ability to predict the future cause it hasn't appeared. I needed to stop worrying and just stay in the present. Things were going to be fine in the end, just like Ryutaros told me.

**0-0-0-0-0-0**

I didn't have Natural Science class the next day due to my teacher calling in sick. I decided to go to the library and talk to KRSwan regarding my worries. Having written my findings in my portable notebook, I decided to see Swan's new message for me and see what she worked on while I was asleep.

**KRSwan:** You have to relax and calm down. You're doing the best that you can do and that's enough for now. I was like that also—I had the chance to fight alongside my friends, but in my heart that wasn't where I belonged. There are many ways of bringing justice and truth into light, and I just chose a non-aggressive way to suit my needs. Don't worry about whether or not you can throw a punch or not. As the old saying goes, "The pen is mightier than the sword."

I smiled—it was the same type of advice JK and Ryutaros gave me the night before. I then scrolled down to continue the message.

**KRSwan (continued): **Also, with a little bit of help from JTC, I decided to make a website regarding all of our findings on the War of the Stars. Do you want to put it under your name or should you have another pen-name just in case?

There was a link to the website underneath the message. Clicking on it, I was amazed at the work that was done. There were pictures of many different serpents, ranging from Apep, Quetzalcoatl, the Rainbow Serpent of the Aborigines and the almighty of Ouroboros. Clearly, Swan and JTC did their homework while I was away. I nodded my head and typed a reply.

**SplitxEnd: **I think that would be a good idea. The idiom you told me about gave me a good idea for a name: Shinken. It's a type of sword used in combat and it relates how my words have become my weapon. Thanks for everything you've done. I couldn't have gotten far without you.

After sending the message, I decided to browse through the other message boards. One of them caught my, and it regarded the former 'Apostle of Sleep', Yamada Tatsumori, the Aries Zodiarts.

Yamada was one of the curious cases where I couldn't find a lot of information on. His life was pretty private and he left for Subaruboshi High for that Transfer Student program early in the semester. When I tried getting information on Yamada in Subaruboshi, I was quickly kicked out of the campus. JK's story told me all that I needed to know as to what happened, and the reason was due to that Horoscope Switch warping him.

Still, why did he specifically ask Ryusei to kill Gentaro? What was that going to accomplish? I mean, the deal was "Kill Gentaro and I do a good thing for you." There was no other stipulation like, "And if you try to betray me, the deal is null and void" or "I lied, and your friend is not going to be revived" or something on the lines of that. Tatsumori maybe a sociopath, but he's not a very _bright_ one in terms of long-term goals.

Brushing that thought aside, I continued to gather more and more notes from these three gossiping girls named Mitsuko, Yoko and Midnight (I just decided to call them the Weird Sisters to make it easier to remember). From what I learned from their conversations, Yamada had an older sister who ran away from home and was the head of a rental service. There, she lent her kid brother two actors who only go by the names of "Ros" and "Guil". I wanted to just make a comment on how symbolic those names were, but I just decided to keep it shut and read more that I could. It was to not only gain more information about what was going on, but to also not think about Koyomi's warning. It was the way that was worded that gave me the creeps.

My thoughts also traveled back to Haruto. There was something so...otherworldly about him. He was still a human, but the way he held himself was like he could be Gentaro's older brother. Just the thought of Gentaro going against all he stood for gave me the shivers. The only time the two of us interacted—when I was 'asking' Jin, Tamae and Ritsuko about the Zodiarts attacks—he was a bit goofy, but I could tell he was very sincere with his promises of friendship.

Also, why was Gentaro attending his own funeral? What did he have to gain seeing people mourn for him?

There were lots of questions and not enough answers. I logged out of the forums, grabbed my bag, and began to head home. With Keizou coming home today, the house would be livelier...as long as Ryutaros decided not to pop up and do whatever he did.

Still, even with the information I obtained and the help that was coming to end this madness, why was I feeling anxious? That was a question that I was unable to answer.

* * *

Translation Notes

Okonomiyaki-A cabbage pancake that is usually mixed with other ingredients like seafood, meat and vegetables. Usually topped with shredded seaweed and mayonnaise.


	6. Ambush

**SplitxEnd**

**Split 6: Ambush**

"_Heroes aren't born, they're cornered. Oh, I was found out. And I found out that I was no hero."_

_-James Belushi_

Dinner that evening was eerily quiet. Sure, Keizou returned and he explained how he had a big haul of fish to sell at the marketplace, and JK was explaining that he was heading off to Kyoto for the weekend, but there was something out of place. I mean, it was nice to see father and son talking to one another, but I knew they weren't going to talk about "that incident". If someone talked about it, it was like someone was going to attack a sensitive part of their soul. It would be like a glass dome falling down on their head.

"Yayoi," said Keizou, turning to me. "Are you all right? Your curry rice is getting cold."

"I'm fine," I answered, scooping some curry into my mouth. I smiled as if to indicate that it was tasty (which it was, but that wasn't my biggest concern at this time). "Classes are the same, and my forum buddies are doing great. I don't know if KRSwan is going to be publishing another story in the near future or anything."

"That Mirror World story was pretty cool, though," said JK. "I still have that copy from America. I read it from cover to cover in one whole night! That woman has talent, let me tell you."

"She does," I replied, nodding my head. I still had to wrap my head around how she was able to go through life after seeing these strange phantom monsters and the alternate war where Kamen Riders existed as their defenders. She was ambushed by government officials and had to face the fact that her best friend nearly died in the hands of the enemy. How she's able to smile after that proves that she has such a strong will. I guess that's why I looked up to her.

"I'm done," said JK, finishing the last of his meal. He took his plate and utensils into his hands and walked to the sink. "I'll wash tonioght. Then, I have to get ready for tomorrow. It's going to be a big day."

"What exactly is going on in Kyoto?" asked Keizou. "Some big get-together?"

"...Sort of," JK turned the faucet on and grabbed the nearest sponge. "Let's just say that it's going to get a little crazy for the next two days."

It had something to do with Gentaro, that I was sure of. The information I received from KRSwan was good, but it still didn't give me a broad enough picture as to what Ophiuchus wanted. I was going crazy over not getting this information, and I hated that I couldn't accompany JK to this suicidal mission. Still, I kept silent and ate my dinner, not wanting to show any tears falling down my eyes.

Once I finished eating, and handed JK my plate, I went to my room and closed the door. Already dressed in my night clothes, I began to study for my classes once more until I fell asleep at midnight. I didn't dream that evening, but that was fine. I had a lot more on my mind in comparison to seeing myself flying in my own dream world.

**0-0-0-0-0-0-**

Keizou usually left early in the morning to prepare for fishing, so when I heard the sound of a train whistle, I turned to see it was only 6:30 AM. I went to the window and couldn't believe my eyes.

There was a train in front of the house.

I left the room and saw JK already leaving the dining room, a piece of toast in his mouth. He saw me and removed the toast to say, "That's the DenLiner. It's a train that travels through time. It's taking me to Kyoto so I can..."

I knew what he was going to say, so I went to his side, took his hand into mine, and kissed him on the cheek. He blushed.

"Come home safely," I told him. "I'm just a text message away if you need me. Okay?"

JK smiled and placed a kiss on my forehead. This was a good luck charm we gave each other ever since we were young. It was our way of saying, "You're not doing this alone. I'll be there for you." Right now, JK needed this more than ever. It was like he was heading off to war, and I was the girl giving her sweetheart a handkerchief as a sign of good luck. It was a horrible feeling that I could just stand there and watch as JK left for this battle, but I knew that I had my part to do. I had to continue my research to find anything relating to Gentaro, and that's it.

JK gave me a hug and grabbed his bag. Then, he waved goodbye and left through the front door. All I could do was go to the window, smile and wave back until the DenLiner disappeared into the sky.

**0-0-0-0-0-0-**

I couldn't concentrate at all during class. By the time it was the last ten minutes of my Biology and Evolution class, I was resorting to excuse myself to the bathroom and high-tail it out of there. On that particular Friday, we were in the computer lab, preparing articles and stuff for the research paper due next month. The only thing I could talk about were snakes, due to the research I was going through involving the War of the Stars and stuff. As I started to find stuff about what snakes eat, I noticed something in my article.

"_Scorpions are known to eat small insects, but larger ones have been capable of eating lizards, mice and snakes. They wait for the prey to come then sting it multiple times in order to weaken them with its own poison. Then, they produce a chemical and inject it into their prey to turn them into liquid in which they drink up."_

Scorpions eat snakes...Remembering my research, Ophiuchus was smack-dab in the middle of Scorpio and Sagittarius. Hypothetically, Scorpio must've been angry at Ophiuchus and did something to him that instigated the War of the Stars. Okay, I had no evidence to support that, but a Celestial Scorpion and a Space Serpent were similar to the ones on Earth...right?

Seeing my professor tending to another student's needs, I quickly pulled open a window to the forums and began to type up another message to KRSwan. At this point, all the information I found, no matter how miniscule it was, needed to be documented and fully researched.

**SplitxEnd: **I read that scorpions are known to eat snakes. Could this relate to the ones in Astronomy? Do you think Scorpio had something against Ophiuchus? In fact, why did the Horoscope Constellations hate Ophiuchus? What did he do to incite their wrath?

I sent the message then patiently waited as class ended for the day. Once the professor said that class was over, I shut the computer down and slipped my backpack on. While some of my classmates stayed to chat with one another, I decided to head home. I needed to rest, relax, and probably watch the news. It was funny that I could act so calm when I had nothing to do yet also feel as I was swamped when doing the same thing over and over again.

As I approached the bus stop, I stopped walking. Someone was following me. Turning around, there was a white van behind me. The person driving it had a long white labcoat and dark sunglasses, but something about him gave me chills down my spine. Koyomi's warning was in my head once more, but it couldn't have gone true...right? I mean, why was I important to these people?

When I saw the door open and a foot step onto the road, I knew that I had to run. I did. I heard someone shouting, but I didn't turn around to see who did. I had to escape and find someplace that they wouldn't find me. Thinking quick, I recalled Kani-san and his croquette stand and rushed toward there. There were a few customers munching croquettes and croquette sandwiches, ensuring that the people after me couldn't capture me in broad daylight. Still, I didn't want to take any chances.

As the customers left, I rushed to Kani-san and slipped into the stand from behind. Kani-san turned around as I took in some deep breaths.

"Toku-chan," he said. "What's going on? Is it some stalker again?"

"No," I hissed. "There's some strange men coming after me. I don't know why, but I just know they're bad. I don't know if they followed me here—I didn't bother to look behind."

"What did they look like?"

"I saw one person through the windshield—they had a white coat and sunglasses. Why do you ask?"

"There's a giant group of them coming this way. You better stay quiet. I'll see if I can chase them off your tail."

I nodded my head and crouched down, making sure that I was completely invisble from behind Kani-san. I heard footsteps and bit my lip to stop myself from screaming. I could hear Kani-san trying his best to negotiate with these strange people, but it wasn't working. Then, I heard Kani-san gasp.

I slowly lifted my gaze as I saw the faces of many of these strange white-coated men wearing black masks with a vertebrae mark trailing down their head. It was inhuman. One grabbed onto Kani-san and knocked him out with a single punch. Another one looked over the glass panels and saw me crouching near the unconscious Kani-san. I was trapped, and there was no one to help me.

I had to do something. I had to defend myself to the bitter end. I picked up a butcher knife and stood up, ready to defend myself from these assailants. I raised it into the air but the knife was soon pulled out of my hands, and someone snatched onto my wrist, yanking me out of the croquette stand and into their evil cluthes. Three others grabbed onto my arms and legs, immobilizing me. I was about to go for my cellphone, but the goons were one step ahead of me. They checked my bag, pulled out my cellphone and it was crushed like a soda can. I saw one of these black masked assailants pull a taser from his coat, preparing to electrocute me from where I stood.

This couldn't have been happening...I was going to be taken away and no one would know where I was. There was no one to save me. Koyomi's prediction was true after all.

"Someone!" I screamed, desperate for someone to hear my cry. "SOMEONE! SAVE ME!"

Just as I was about to feel 30,000 volts of electricity coursing through my body, something appeared in the corner of my eye. It was red ring of runes and a hand sticking out. It grabbed onto my shirt and dragged me through, just as the wires of the taser were about to paralyze me. Everything after that went black.

**0-0-0-0-0-**

I don't know how long I was out, but when I woke up I heard the chime of a grandfather clock. I slowly sat up and looked at my surroundings. From where I was sitting, it was a cross between a café and an antique shop. There was this old man brewing a pot of tea on the stove, and sitting across from me were two familiar faces.

"Haruto!" I gasped. "And Koyomi! Where am I? What happened?"

"We were in the vicinity when we saw you about to be mauled by those strange men," said Koyomi. "Haruto dragged you here just as you were about to be electrocuted."

"How though? I didn't see him anywhere near that croquette stand when those strange people were about to use a taser on me."

"Ah," said Haruto, munching on a donut sprinkled with powdered sugar. "I think this would be easier if I explained it to you. See this ring?"

On his left ring finger was a large, silver ring with an image on its center. It depicted a portal with a dragon emerging from it. I nodded my head.

"Good, now," he pointed to the table to my left. On top of it was a small figurine in the shape of a fairy. "Keep an eye on the fairy."

I slowly nodded my head and followed his instructions. Then, I saw the same red ring of runes emerge, and his hand appeared, lifting the fairy figure into the air before pulling his hand back. I turned my gaze back at Haruto, his hand still on the figurine.

"H-how did you do that?" I stammered out. "Was that..."

"Magic?" Haruto finished for me. He smiled. "That's right. You see, Yayoi Tokuda, I am a wizard."


	7. Miracles

**SplitxEnd**

**Split 7: Miracles**

"_The miracle is not that we do this work, but that we are happy to do it."_

_-Mother Teresa_

Magic.

After learning about the Zodiarts and the War of the Stars, I thought that it would be impossible to top that. But, the old "Seeing is Believing" saying came back to me and the magic did save me from becoming some sort of guinea pig for those scientists. It was still a lot to take in, though.

"Yayoi," said Haruto, waving his hand in front of my face. "Are you there?"

"Um, yeah," I answered, shaking my head. "I mean, this is still all so much to take in. How long have you been using magic, Haruto?"

"He's had the ability to use it for the past six months," Koyomi answered. "It all started with a ritual formed during a solar eclipse. He and other people were chosen as 'Gates'."

"Gates?"

"Those who fall into despair that can create Phantoms," Haruto elaborated. "The person dies and then a Phantom takes their place, causing despair to other gates. Only those who can keep hope alive in them can withstand the despair, and thus can become magic wielders."

"And that's what happened to you two?"

"Sort of," Haruto picked up a donut from the box in his hand and began to eat. After a few seconds, he swallowed. "I was saved by a man known as the White Wizard, who gave me the ability to use magic. He also told me to keep an eye on Koyomi, because she doesn't have any magic ability at all."

"Did she have a Phantom?"

Haruto shook his head. "She doesn't know whether or not she's even a Phantom to begin with. It's a shame, really." he patted Koyomi's head like she was a cat. "But I promised the White Wizard to give her hope, just like I did to you."

"W-what do you mean by that?" How was I asked such a thing like that? Especially from someone like him? Now that I think of it, when I stared into his eyes, he reminded me of someone familiar...

"So," said Haruto. "Can you explain to me why you were being chased after those men in white?"

"I honestly don't know myself," I answered back. "I hope it wasn't because of the information I've looked up regarding Ophiuchus."

"Ophiuchus?" Haruto and Koyomi repeated. That reaction was justified, however. The only people who would've known about that name were the Kamen Rider Club and their associates. To anyone else, they probably would've been just like those two.

"It's a bit of a long story," I explained. "Just don't say anything until I finish speaking...I don't know how long I'm going to be telling this story."

**0-0-0-0-0-0**

About forty-five minutes later, my tale regarding Gentaro Kisaragi's death, his resurrection, the War of the Stars, Ophiuchus, and everything else in relation to those subjects was finished. Haruto and Koyomi never said a word. Instead, they were rather entranced with my story-telling regarding the whole mess. I didn't delve in my own past of being a Zodiarts, but that was for the best. The less they knew about me, the better.

As I glanced at the grandfather clock, I felt worried. What was JK doing at that time? He was Kamen Rider Den-O: Gun Form, and he and Ryutaros were going to be firing guns at bad guys. I never would've thought that JK would touch one of those—at least he wasn't using knives as weapons.

"So," I said. "Do you understand my worries now?"

"I do," said Haruto. He took my hands into his and added, "And I can see that you're still worried. You need to relax."

Relax? Kani-san got attacked by hiding me, JK is doing who knows what in Kyoto, and those scientist guys are still out there. How am I supposed to _relax_?

Just as I was about to vocalize my fears, the door opened. Entering the little antique shop was an man in his 50's with groceries in hand. Koyomi went to his side.

"Wajima-san," she said. "You're back! Let me help you with the groceries."

"Thank you, Koyomi," said Wajima. He then turned to where I was sitting and said, "Oh? Do we have a customer today?"

"She's bunking with us for a while Wajima-san," Haruto answered. "I saved this fair maiden from the evil cultists."

"Very funny," I said. "My name is Yayoi Tokuda. It's nice to meet you, Wajima-san."

"The pleasure is mine," Wajima replied. "Does your dad know you're here?"

"Somewhat. The father of my childhood friend has no idea where I'm at, but I'm gonna call him when he gets off of work. Then, I need some time to look up something."

"Oh?" Wajima placed the groceries on the counter and began unpacking them. "What type of research?"

"She's looking up something regarding Ophiuchus," Haruto answered. "She says he's some sort of giant serpent with the power of resurrection."

Wajima was holding onto a jar of pickled daikon radish that suddenly fell onto the floor with a clatter. He then turned to me as if I had grown two heads.

"Ophiuchus?" he whispered. "He's here? How?"

"Like Haruto said, I'm trying to find that out," I said. "All I know is that it involves the death of Gentaro Kisaragi from a few days ago. Gentaro's birthdate falls under the sign of Ophiuchus instead of Scorpio for some odd and unexplained reason."

"No, there is a good reason for that," Wajima whispered. "He's a descendant of Asclepius, the original Serpent-bearer."

"How do you know that for sure?" It just seemed like pure coincidence that an ancient snake goes after a delinquent like Gentaro when there could've been other people born under the sign of Ophiuchus filed under 'recently deceased' in Japan. Why was it specifically _him?_

"First off, do you know what his name means?"

"Duh," I had to roll my eyes. "'Kisaragi' means February, while my name means 'March'."

"In the times of Ancient Rome, February was a month of purification." Wajima climbed a step-ladder resting against a shelf. "Now, the Romans looked up to the Greeks and declared that anything they did was a hundred times inferior to Greece. Are you following me?"

"Hold on," I pulled out my laptop, turned it on, and then began to type everything Wajima told me. "Go on."

"Take into account that Asclepius was a healer, and February means purity, then we can conclude that Gentaro's bloodline were those of healers in a sense. What was Gentaro like?"

"He's not a healer in the physical sense, but if you count making 'friends' as a form of healing, then I guess he does use some sort of magic to heal people."

"Spiritual and emotional healing then. Interesting..." I heard Wajima mutter something under his breath, Koyomi tying the plastic bags into knots, and the sofa across from me squeaking from Haruto standing up. I then felt Haruto resting on my shoulder...and my embarassment levels rising.

"I don't like boys being so close to me," I hissed at him. "So please...let me be."

"I just want to know what you're up to," Haruto replied, smiling at me. That grin made me realize why he was so familiar...he reminded me so much of JK and how I would call him "Cheshire-puss" when we were little. But romance was the last thing on my mind.

"Yayoi," said Wajima, interrupting the flirting comments from Haruto. "Asclepius was the son of Apollo, God of the Sun, Light and Medicine and Coronis, a princess whose famous for the legends of the crow."

"The crow?" I repeated, lifting my head up from my laptop. "What does a crow have to do with this?"

"Crows used to have white feathers," Koyomi explained, cupping onto a white stone bird in her hands. "Apollo used a white crow to spy on Coronis while he was away, because Coronis was having an affair with another prince. When he learned that the crow didn't pluck the prince's eyes out, Apollo became angry and the feathers turned black."

"I know what happens next. Coronis is sent to a funeral pyre, Apollo learns the error of his ways, cuts Asclepius out of his mother's wound, and Coronis is sent to the Underworld. What does this have to do with Gentaro Kisaragi?"

"This," Wajima slammed a book onto the table and flipped it to a page depicting many people handing offerings to a statue. Most notably, the tops of their heads were white. "Specific descendants of Asclepius styled themselves as crows in one way or another. A person who is a pure descendant of Asclepius is born with his hair white as the white crow. Then, after a certain age, or a traumatic event in their lives, their hair becomes black as the darkness itself."

"Shouldn't it be the other way around?" said Haruto. "One's hair turns white from shock. Why it becomes black is beyond..."

"Wait a minute..." I typed something on my laptop, bringing up Gentaro's old school profile. I pulled up a photo of Gentaro with his hair slicked back as a pompadour. From a certain angle, it looked like the feather of a very large crow. I showed it to everyone else. "This is Gentaro prior to his death."

"Eh," said Koyomi. "He has a beautiful smile..."

"Born on November 30th, 1994 with a blood type of B." Wajima read out loud. "Nothing on his parents, though."

"They died when he was around eight years old," I explained. "JK told me that his parents were proud on him making friends and stated that those friends would help him when he fell. The only way this can work is if I can get a picture of Gentaro in his youth. Even his funeral picture had him with black hair."

"There is a way to check," said Haruto. He pointed to the ring on his finger. "After dinner, we'll use my motorcycle to sneak into Gentaro's old room and see his old baby photos. We'll use that for analysis."

"Can't you just teleport me to Gentaro's room?" I asked. "You rescued me from those scientists, so shouldn't it be easier to just drop me at the doorstep and then pull me out later?"

"It took a lot of mana to pull you out. To refill it, I'm going to need to eat a lot of food and rest up a bit before I can try something like that again. Plus, I don't have a clue where Gentaro lives—the only reason I was able to pull you out was because I knew the general area of the croquette stand." Haruto sighed and patted his belly. "Can you cook?"

I really wanted to sock Haruto across the face. He wants to eat while my close friend and his allies are getting themselves killed? How insensitive!

Still, I didn't have much of a choice. Going back to the Jingu residence wouldn't be a good idea if Keizou wasn't there, and those strange men probably wouldn't expect me hiding in an antique shop. If I was going to survive this weekend, I had to trust these people to help me out.

I looked at Gentaro's school photo before looking back at the page of the white-haired men. It was such a kooky theory, but then again I've had nothing _but_ kooky theories to help me understand Ophiuchus. If Wajima was correct, then this would've been ground-breaking news that JK needed to know. I would've love to go through the book and find more and more information that matched the stuff that KRSwan and I went through, but that would've been for later. Right now, it looks like I was going to help cook dinner.

I turned to Haruto and asked him, "What do you like to eat?"


	8. Espial

**SplitxEnd**

**Split 8: Espial**

"_The real voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes."_

_-Marcel Proust_

I called Keizou, through Haruto's cellphone since mine was destroyed a few hours ago, and told him that I wasn't going to be home until tomorrow evening—or whenever the labcoat henchmen decided to stop chasing after me—and that I would be staying over at a friend's house. Keizou was fine with that, and asked me how JK was doing.

"Um, he's doing fine..." I said. "He just gave me a phone call just a few moments ago and he's having a great time in Kyoto."

"That's great!" said Keizou. "It's nice that he gets to have some time to heal his heart after the funeral. Kaizou kept telling me all about Gentaro's endeavors to befriend everyone and I was amazed at all of the mourners during the service. He touched a lot of hearts in a short amount of time."

"Yeah..." I looked back at Gentaro's school photo on my laptop before staring at Wajima's old book resting in my lap. It was on the page of the white-haired men all worshipping Asclepius, and there were even small images of crows near the men's feet. "I wished I interviewed him back when I was still part of the journalist club."

"He'll live on in everyone's hearts, Yayoi. They shall remember him and pass his teachings down to their own loved ones. That is all that we can do for him, and he would've loved that."

I bit my lip, trying my hardest not to blurt out that Gentaro would no longer like that at all. Instead I said, "I agree. That would be what he wanted."

We ended the conversation at that as I began to type out another message to KRSwan. With all of this new information coming around, it was good to keep her up to date. I just hoped her informant was also doing his job—this was now a matter of life and death!

**SplitxEnd: **Swan, I recently learned something about the boy's past. It's somehow connected to the original myth of Ascleipus's birth and the white crow whose feathers turned black from Apollo's rage. Can you look into something like that? Also cross-reference the month of February just in case. It'll make sense in the long-run.

After I sent the message, I walked toward the kitchen to help with dinner preparations. As I did, I saw Haruto at the stove, wearing an obnoxiously pink apron over his clothes. I didn't know how to react to it, but just passed him by and began to wash my hands.

"Why are you so shy around me?" asked Haruto. "Don't tell me...you have a crush on me!"

As if. The only reason I was feeling so awkward was because the closest thing I ever had to a boyfriend was JK being my close friend. Plus Haruto reminded me so much of him, and I was so scared as to what was going on. Was he injured? Was Ryutaros taking care of him? What was Gentaro up to? The more questions that raced through my brain, the more worried I was.

"Hey," said Haruto, coming to my side. "Are you sick?"

"Sort of," I replied. I wiped my hands with a towel before going to the chopping board. "I'm just so worried. My best friend is stuck fighting off monsters while I'm here and...and...I just don't know what to do."

"First, you need to calm down," said Haruto. "Koyomi, Wajima-san and I will be there to comfort you. You just need to keep your chin up and smile. Like this."

And thus, he used his fingers to push the corners of my lips up into a smile. It made me feel even worse inside—I did that to JK during the aftermath of 'that incident'. Still, just to make him happy, I kept that smile on my face all the while I felt like I was going to cry all over the onions that I was chopping up.

**0-0-0-0-0-0**

After dinner and the subsequent washing of dishes, Haruto lead me to his motorcycle. I wasn't all that keen on motorcycles, but when I saw the silver and red parts to make it resemble a giant ring, I could only gasp in its beauty.

"She's called the Machine Winger," Haruto explained to me. He handed me a motorcycle helmet. "You know where Gentaro lives, right?"

"It's at a shop called Kisaragi Motors," I said. "Gentaro's grandfather used to be in some motorcycle races back in his youth. That's how Gentaro learned how to ride one."

"Oh. What was the motorcycle called."

"The Massiguler. It was even shaped like a rocket...or so I heard."

"Cool," Haruto placed a helmet on his head and walked to the motorcycle. "Are you coming with me, or not?"

I nodded my head and strapped the helmet on my head before sitting down...behind Haruto. This was embarrassing...

"Just wrap your arms around me tight if you get scared," said Haruto. "You don't mind if I go a bit fast, do you?"

"As long as we get to Kisaragi Motors, I don't care if you go at 88 miles per hour," I replied. "Let's get going!"

Through some sort of magic spell, the motorcycle's engine began to roar and we sped off to the location. Having already written the directions on a piece of paper, I instructed on which turns to take in what would be the swiftest way to the motorcycle repair shop. Deep in my mind, I felt sorry for Goro Kisaragi. He lost so many people and he'll never know the truth of what happened...or maybe he did know the truth, which would make us coming to him even more terrifying. When people are in grief, they don't want to focus on that. They want to be happy and so they smile to hide all of that pain.

My mind soon recalled JK smiling like that. That's what he was doing...and he knows that it's not the right thing to do.

**0-0-0-0-0-0**

Twenty minutes later, we arrived at Kisaragi Motors. There was a sign at the door that said "Closed", but that was to be expected. What wasn't expected were the hundreds of cards, flower bouquets and trinkets in honor of Gentaro Kisaragi's death. It was heartbreaking.

"He gave so much hope, and now he shall plunge everyone into despair," Haruto mused. "Poor him."

"I agree," I answered back. I looked up, seeing an open window bringing in some fresh air. Something about that made me feel...unsafe. "Haruto, do you have a ring that can lift me into that window.

"I do. Why do you ask?"

"I think that's Gentaro's bedroom. If I'm lucky, maybe I can find some old photos of him when he was a kid. The more I know, the better. Knowledge is power after all."

"All right then." I turned to see Haruto slip a ring onto his finger. "Hold still."

**Big, Please.**

Confused as to what was going on, I saw a small circle of runes materialize by Haruto's side. He slipped his hand into it. I didn't understand what happened until I found myself rising into the air! I looked down—Haruto's hand was at least thirty times its size!

"Is this enough?" he asked. "Can you get to the window from here?"

I nodded my head as I jumped toward the windowsill. Once inside, I gave him a thumb's up and saw his hand sink into the ground. Knowing that I only had a few minutes to uncover everything that I could, I took a deep breath and began to look around. The room was untouched with a messy bed, some clothes in the laundry hamper, and some confetti on the ground. Brushing them aside, I went toward his desk. I groaned—all of the photos on the desk had Gentaro with black hair.

However, I did find a stack of black books underneath the desk lamp. Turning the lamp on, I smiled. They were all diaries, each of them marked with a specific year starting with 2002. I took the one from the bottom and began to read its first entry.

"_Dear Diary,_

_My grandpa says that writing in you could be very helpful. I need a lot of it right now. My parents died in a car crash a few days ago, and I'm still feeling a bit down about it. They told me that I should always be making friends, because they will help me whenever I'm down...just like I'm always there when they feel sad."_

I shook my head in pity. Young Gentaro didn't even know what he was about to face in the future. I turned to the next page.

"_I should also mention that I'm quite an interesting kid. Prior to mom and dad's death, I had white hair. I tried to ask why my hair was so weird compared to everyone else, but mom and dad never explained why. When I woke up the day after their death, I went to the mirror and screamed. Somehow, my hair dyed black during my sleep."_

So Wajima's story was real? No, I needed more proof—visual proof. There had to be a picture of white-haired Gentaro somewhere.

I skimmed through the rest of the diary, but there wasn't even a sketch of white anywhere. Still, I had something that could be used as evidence, so I decided to place the diary into my bag and keep searching. I went inside Gentaro's closet and pulled out my phone. Turning it on, I used it as my personal flashlight to go through some of Gentaro's school clothes. I noticed a couple of shirts—one of them having a quote in English of all things—and a beautiful biker jacket with a tiger and dragon on the back. Reminding myself that I was here for something other than his fashion sense, I pushed the shirts and jackets aside to find a very important clue.

Inscribed on the wall was a glyph of a white crow with three legs—a yatagarasu. If I remembered the old stories my parents told me, a yatagarasu was said to be the symbol of rebirth and guidance. Knowing Gentaro helping people by becoming friends, this definitely fit him. I quickly took a photo of the glyph using my cellphone and nodded my head. All I needed now was a old photograph of white-haired Gentaro, and then it would be mission accomplished.

"So," said a voice. "How's everything?"

I turned around and nearly screamed when I saw Haruto behind me. He smiled and waved hello.

"What are you doing here?" I hissed. "_How_ are you even here?"

"Goro Kisaragi saw that I was outside and is currently admiring my ride," Haruto answered. He took note of the crow glyph on the wall and whistled. "Wajima-san was right on the money."

"The only thing I need to ensure that I have everything is that photo," I whispered. "Let's check under his bed for clues."

Haruto nodded his head and crouched on all fours. He moved his arm back and forth in an attempt to find something that could be useful...and then smiled when pulled out a shoebox.

"Jackpot," he whispered. "I think this will be enough for now."

I stepped out of the closet as Haruto opened the shoebox. Inside was the photograph that I needed. It was a young Gentaro—about five or six years old—with white hair and a bright smile on his face. Even as a little boy, he was able to be so optimistic. I envied him a bit.

"This is definitely the last piece of the puzzle," I said, snatching the photograph. "Now, let's-"

"Haruto? Haruto, where are you?"

Haruto and I looked at each other as we heard Goro Kisaragi climb upstairs. Thinking quickly, or just in a complete panic, Haruto pushed me into the closet and closed it shut. He did it so quickly that I wasn't able to tell him something very important.

I was claustrophobic.


	9. Lacuna

**SplitxEnd**

**Split 9: Lacuna**

"_If a man can bridge the gap between life and death, if he can live on after he's dead, then maybe he was a great man."_

_-James Dean_

I suppose you're wondering why I'm claustrophobic. It all started when I was around ten years old back in the elementary school JK and I used to go to. I was feeding the rabbits that day when I heard someone scream. I rushed toward the source and found a couple of bullies picking on JK. Thinking quickly, I threw a rock at one of them so JK could escape. I then tackled one head on and tried my best to make enough noise so someone could hear me. No one did.

Instead, I was dragged to the school warehouse and they trapped me inside there by leaning against the door. I tried my best to push my way out, but they were too heavy. So there I was, in the darkness, feeling so cramped because I had no idea what I was bumping into. I begged for the bullies to let me out, but they didn't budge. "It's what I deserve", was what they said. I could only scream for someone to save me as the bullies laughed and jeered at the torture they gave me. I didn't know how much time passed, but when someone finally opened the door to the warehouse, I was a sobbing, nervous wreck.

Once I calmed down, and my mother and father were there to take me home, I learned that JK actually went to the bullies and fought them. He got a black eye and a bloody nose from it, but he managed to get help from the teachers just as the bullies were about to toss him into the warehouse. JK told me that he felt bad for leaving me to fend off the jerks who tossed me into the warehouse and decided to make amends. I was just glad that he wasn't hurt from doing something so crazy.

My mind was so focused on JK's whereabouts that I didn't hear what Haruto and Goro Kisaragi were saying until I heard someone knock against the closet door. Knowing that was a signal for me to listen, I leaned against the door and took a deep breath to calm my nerves as I began to hear their explanation..

"I'm sorry about that," Haruto began. "I didn't mean to leave, but I had trouble finding the bathroom and..."

"No, no, that's fine," Goro explained. "My grandson would've loved to be friends with you, though. I bet the two of you would've been comparing motorcycles and racing until sunrise."

"About that...What exactly do you know about Gentaro's life prior to his parents' death?"

There was silence. It felt like it was closing in on me, just like the darkness was. Thinking quick, I brought out my cellphone to at least shine some light around me. If anything, this would give me a good chance to look at the photo of young Gentaro. Using the weak light, I took the photo of young Gentaro into my hands. I could see Gentaro's hair was the color of fallen snow and he still had such a sweet smile on his face that could melt even the coldest of hearts. What did his parents think when they found their son having white hair? Did they have white hair also? That was something I was going to have to investigate once Goro left.

Then there was the matter of the diary. After the mentioning of his hair turning black, there was no big change in Gentaro's life. There were the people who befriended, their birthdays, things he did with his friends, and the like. Either that, or Gentaro just didn't seem to notice the strangeness. So, knowing that it would be better to focus on something that didn't revolve around my claustrophobia, I began to quickly skim throughout five months worth of entries ranging from what Gentaro ate for dinner, his classes, the friends that he made, etc. While it was nice, it didn't exactly help me figure out what I needed to learn about Gentaro's connections to Ophiuchus.

Then, about halfway through the diary, I noticed a strange entry.

_October 31__st__, 2002_

_Tonight was Halloween and something strange happened. While grandpa was getting my costume ready, I went to the mirror and freshened up. While I was washing my face, I thought I saw someone staring at me. It was an old woman in a white kimono and such kind eyes that looked similar to mine. She told me that she wanted to visit me and said I had lovely black hair. Everyone's been saying that about me recently. I wonder why._

_When I told grandpa about the woman, he said that woman was my grandmother. She died when I was two and commented that I had eyes just like hers. Then, grandpa began to cry..._

I was too focused on the diary in my hands, that I didn't notice the door to the closet opening and me falling onto my back. I looked up, and screamed at the person standing over me before they placed a hand over my mouth.

"It's all right," he whispered. "It's just me, Haruto."

"Don't scare me like that!" I whispered, pushing his hand away. "And why did you have to push me in the closet? Didn't you know I was claustrophobic?"

"We were infiltrating someone's room and I didn't have time to ask!" Haruto exclaimed. "I didn't hear you panic or scream, so I thought it was all right. I'm sorry about that."

"Be lucky I was focused on this diary to not notice my predicament. What did you find out about Gentaro's childhood?"

"He has the same story as almost any other normal child. He was sweet, innocent, full of love, etc. What makes him so special?"

"He could see ghosts," I answered, rolling over. "Listen," I kept quiet, praying that Goro Kisaragi wasn't listening. "Um, is there a way for me to get outside without anyone noticing I'm here stealing stuff?"

"Of course there is," Haruto answered, pointing to the window. "Jump."

"Eh?"

"Trust me. I'll save you."

I really didn't want to break my leg or arm during this investigation, but Haruto saved me from experimentation and certain death from said experimentation. Plus, he was able to enlarge his hand like that to give me a lift...what's to say he'd make a hand like some cushion to save me from certain death from falling?

So I nodded my head, stood up, went to the window, turned to Haruto who smiled back and me, took a deep breath...and I jumped. After what felt like time slowing down for me, I landed on Haruto's enlarged hand. Looking up, I saw Haruto waving at me with a regular-sized hand and giving me a thumb up.

I jumped down to the ground as Haruto's hand retracted. All I could do was wait until he came out and we could go back to the Antique Shop. Until then, I had some reading to do.

**0-0-0-0-0-0-0-**

_November 30__th__, 2002_

_Today is my ninth birthday. It's my first birthday since my parents' funeral, my hair turning black and my visit with my grandmother._

_Today is also the day that grandpa says we have to move. I didn't want to because I'd missed being with Yuki. I begged him to let me stay with her, but grandpa was firm...we had to move. I don't know why though...I mean, I haven't done anything weird in the past, have I? Unless you count that time where I kept seeing all those dead souls in school...or those hovering over people's shoulders...They were so lonely, and the only way not to be lonely is to be friends with someone. With all of these ghosts wanting to hang out with me, it's such a blast! At this rate, I think I'll be making a thousand friends in no time!_

….Well, that was something I didn't expect.

Gentaro did make lots of friends, but he never stated if they were _alive. _From what this diary was telling me, he could see people from the other side due to being a descendant of Asclepius and having the white hair and the yatagrasu symbolism. What exactly was this supposed to mean? And why was Gentaro the one who had it? Was he like a specific numbered descendant or the child born every one hundred years with that specific power? There still wasn't enough evidence to tell me what was going on.

The door to Kisaragi Motors opened and Haruto stepped out. We shared a glance with each other before smiling.

"Did you find anything important?" he said.

"Lots of stuff," I answered, closing the diary. "You?"

"The old man was amazed on how well I took care of the Machine Winger and gave me some pointers to make it more efficient," he answered. "But he's still mum about Gentaro though. Say," he placed a hand on my helmeted head. "Wanna go play some soccer?"

"Really?" I asked. "Won't Koyomi and Wajima be worried that we're out this late at night? And...what about..."

"Those scientists won't hurt you as long as I'm around. Come on," Haruto grabbed onto my hand. "Let's get started."

We approached his motorcycle and then drove off to the nearest park. I hadn't been to the park for quite some time, and I had lots of memories of playing there with JK. But JK wasn't there. I tried calling him, but he wouldn't pick up. Did the DenLiner have bad connection? Maybe the battery was dead...either way, I missed him. Haruto would never replace the friendship and memories I had with JK. That, I knew.

Still, why did my heart feel so twisted when I thought about Haruto? He just rescued me—this is the second time we've met. It's like the space between us is so close yet so far. I'm going insane—that had to be the only reason why I felt so weird about being close to Haruto.

"Um, just a question, Haruto," I said. "Why do you want to play soccer? I mean...it's just so random."

"I used to be a soccer player," Haruto answered back. "Then...I gained that phantom."

"Oh..." Soccer was something close to his heart, just like writing and investigating was close to mine. It reminded us of happier times—times before bad things got in the way. Before "that incident", JK truly loved music and singing, but now his heart has closed around it. He doesn't hate it, but the memories associated with it have made him so bitter.

"Hey," said Haruto. "You got quiet."

"I'm thinking," I answered back.

"Thinking means you worry, and thus you get anxious and you start to panic. You need to loosen up. A little bit of exercise will keep your blood pumping and put some color on your cheeks."

There he goes, sweet talking me like that. Still, it was kind of nice. Taking a deep breath, I leaned my forehead against his back, and wrapped my arms around his stomach. Just for this little moment, I felt that we were so close.

**0-0-0-0-0-0**

**Connect, Please.**

Once we were at the park, Haruto used his magic to create a small circle of runes and pulled out a soccer ball. There weren't a lot of people at the park, so it was safe for him to use it in front of me. I stayed quiet as Haruto kicked the ball to himself. I watched his feet bounce the ball back and forth, and he was so concentrated on making it to a hundred, or even a thousand, kicks before it fell. My concentration broke on the fiftieth kick when the ball went to me and I caught it.

"Now you have a go," he said. "Come on."

"Whose soccer ball is this?" I asked, inspecting it. "Isn't that stealing to use your magic in such a matter?"

"This is my soccer ball," Haruto answered. "So technically I'm stealing from myself. Now go on and try what I did."

I nodded my head and tried my best to replicate his moves. Let's just say I only was able to do two before it pathetically dropped onto the ground. Trying my hardest not to show how embarrassed I was, I placed my foot on it and tried to kick it back and forth, using the cup of my foot to keep it from flying everywhere. After kicking it three times, I was surprised when Haruto appeared and slid in front of me, pushing the ball away.

"Hey!" I exclaimed. "That's not fair!"

"Yes it is!" Haruto answered back. "Now come on! You wanna get it back, right? You have to catch me!"

"Come back here!" I said, chasing after him. Haruto laughed as he swerved to the right just as I was about an arm's reach toward him. Then, he kicked the ball toward the air and stood under it, lightly bumping it with his head before using his chest to bump it away just as my hands were about to grab onto it. Instead, alarmed by him using his chest to let the ball drop, I skidded to a stop and accidentally collided with him. Then, the two of us landed in the grass.

There was some silence as we both tried to understand what exactly happened back there. My hands were on his shoulders, and his were on mine, and we stared into each others eyes for a minute or two. I held my breath, trying to calm my rapidly rising heart beat.

Then...Haruto laughed and I followed suite. I rolled off of him and we continued to laugh at how ridiculous it was for the two of us to look at each other as if we were lovers...or maybe because it was just a way to make us feel better about ourselves and to forget about all of our current troubles. We acted like two best friends who had known each other for so long.

After we let out all of our laughter, Haruto helped me up and we began to play soccer again. For that little moment in time, soccer was our bonding activity. For that little moment in time, I wasn't worried about Gentaro planning to destroy the world, or JK being sent to his death, or even how I was so close to become a guinea pig. Instead, I focused on what was in front of me.

I focused on how Haruto and I were kicking the ball back and forth to ourselves. Right now, that was all that mattered.


	10. Oblivion

**SplitxEnd**

**Split 10: Oblivion**

"_Apathy is a sort of living oblivion."_

_-Horace Greeley_

After an hour at the park and the two of us exhausted chasing after the ball, and probably each other, we drove back to the antique shop. I had a big smile on my face as I felt all of the endorphins rushing through me—I hadn't done something like that in such a long time.

"See?" said Haruto, removing the motorcycle helmet on my head. "You just have to relax. Things are going to be fine."

Aside from me breaking and entering someone's house, learning how a boy could see ghosts, jump into someone's giant hand, and bumping and making it look like we were in love...yeah, things were fine. However, I still was concerned on how I was going to be sleeping over at the antique shop. I had no toothbrush or a spare change of clothes on me, and I really didn't want to ask Koyomi to let me borrow her clothes. It felt so rude and so sudden to ask for something so trivial from these people after they generously let me sleep there.

We entered the antique shop with Koyomi rising from her seat and hugging Haruto. She then turned to me and handed me a bundle of freshly cleaned pajamas and some toiletries for tonight's stay. I didn't know how to respond to such kindness, except with a small thank you.

"You'll be sleeping on the couch," Koyomi explained. "That is, if you don't mind."

"I'm fine with that. As long as no one kidnaps me in my sleep."

Koyomi smiled as she walked to Wajima's side. I went to the couch and sat down, pulling out Gentaro's diary from my bag. Leafing through the page until I reached the one for his eighth birthday, I finished where I left off.

"_Yuki gave me a special space ticket just as Grandpa and I were about to leave. It was for when she finally was able to go to space. She wanted to take me along for the ride. That gave me hope to make other new friends in the next town. I bet there will be lots of people who need my help, and I promise to make sure I don't stop until every single one of them ends up with a smile on their-"_

"Boo!"

"AGH!" I jumped in surprise when Haruto sat down and placed a hand on my shoulder. The nerve of him—didn't he know anything about manners?

"Sorry about that," said Haruto. "I was wondering if I could take a look at the diary."

"Sure, I guess," I handed the diary to him as I stretched my arms. I sighed as I pulled out the photo, seeing Gentaro and his head of white hair. There was just something about this that was bugging me—why was Gentaro the one under the contract? Couldn't Ophiuchus use his parents before the cremation?

No...the last thing a young Gentaro Kisaragi needed was his parents coming back as a zombie, or the fact that the parents are revived. It would've traumatized Gentaro and he probably wouldn't become the man to befriend everyone.

"Haruto," I began. "I saw something strange in Gentaro's closet. It was a symbol of a white yatagarsu."

"A yatagarasu?" Haruto placed the diary onto his lap and looked at me. "How so?"

"Take a look at this," I went to my phone and showed him the photo I took in the closet. "Why do you suppose this was painted here?"

"It's strange," said Haruto. "Let me see if it's in this diary, and if it's not..."

"I don't want to risk breaking into someone's house for a while," I said. "We've already done enough for one day."

"Good idea. Say, Yayoi?"

"What is it?"

"Where are you currently living at? When all of this is over, I need to take you back home. I can't let you go back all by your lonesome self."

"My parents are currently in Hokkaido for some important conference," I answered. "I'm staying over at my friend's house."

"What's his name?"

"JK. His father goes by the name of Keizou Jingu, a famous rockstar."

"I think I heard of him. He was at the top of his career when that big scandal broke out. What's he doing now?"

"He's a fisherman," I began typing down notes from what I read in Gentaro's diary. "And he doesn't like talking about 'that incident'. JK also hasn't gotten over what happened."

"Any big brother would feel horrible when they are unable to protect their younger siblings..." Haruto turned a page of the diary. "Where is he now?"

"He's in Kyoto..." I set the laptop down and hugged my knees close to my chest. "He's off fighting Gentaro as a Kamen Rider...but that's a longer story as to how that happened."

"Why aren't you there to help him? Didn't you go with him on his journey?"

"I...I couldn't." I bit my lip. "I'm a coward. I'm not strong enough to fight. I was begging for someone to save me when those men in white came after me...I highly doubt I would've survived their experiments."

"You're only saying that," Haruto wrapped his arms around me. "Look at me."

I turned my gaze at him and stared deep into his light brown eyes. It was hard to keep my focus on him...he reminded me so much of JK right now and how I was worried on whether or not he was all right. I didn't want to cry—especially not in front of a boy that I just met.

"You were shoved into the closet and faced your claustrophobia head on," he said. "I didn't hear a peep out of you during my talk with Goro-san, and the fact that you could immediately focus on something other than your fear of enclosed spaces shows that you can be brave."

"You're just saying that," I replied.

"Sure I am, but it's up for you to believe those words." Haruto turned back to the diary. I went back to my computer, trying to ignore how close we were just seconds ago. By the time I went to plug in my laptop charger twenty minutes later, I heard Haruto say, "Huh. Interesting."

"What is it?" I asked.

"I'm reading his entry for Christmas Day, and I found something very interesting." He showed me the entry involving a Christmas tree and a white dove. No, not a dove...a crow.

"What does it say?" I asked, leaning next to him. I immediately realized what I was doing and moved back slightly.

"Let's see," Haruto cleared his throat and began to speak. "December 25th, 2002..."

"_I helped grandfather deliver gifts to some of the homeless. As we walked by, I saw a beautiful white crow and followed it into an old abandoned house. The white crow transformed into a strange person and they spoke to me. They told me that I was very special—that I was to become the next White Crow of the Veil. It's said to be a sacred honor for those who worshiped Aesclepius (he spelled it out for me), because they are chosen to heal the souls of those who have departed. I told the crow that I already have been doing that by becoming friends with them, and the crow said I must continue doing that. I also had to keep my powers a secret—no one had to know about this." _

I re-read that passage three more times, but I still couldn't believe what I was seeing. Gentaro was chosen to be the new White Crow and if Ophiuchus ever figured that out, then the world was in so much trouble.

"We have to get to Kyoto and tell them everything," I told Haruto.

"It's late," said Haruto, closing the diary. "We'll go first thing in the morning and deliver the news ourselves."

"But..."

"We've already done enough for now, and what if those men in white are looking for you?" Haruto stood up. "You're safe here, and right now, your safety is important."

"So is my friend's. Haruto, we need to go now. JK needs to know this information so that he knows what's going to happen."

"And what happens if we get caught?" Haruto grabbed onto my shoulders. "If what you say is true, we're practically going on a suicide mission! Gentaro will be too powerful, and he'd easily kills us in one fell swoop. Also. do you even know where JK is?"

"The DenLiner."

"Can you contact him?"

"Not by cell-phone, but I think I can email something to him."

"That'll have to do," Haruto lowered his hands. "I know you want to help him out, but you're already playing a deadly game just by getting all of this information. What if Gentaro finds out that you entered his bedroom and stole his personal property? He'd not only go after you, but also your parents and your best friend! No, you're staying here tonight and that is final."

I wanted to reply that Gentaro wouldn't find me, but considering how those men in white were able to do so, I had no choice but to accept Haruto's words. Sighing, I sat down and began to type out a very lengthy email to JK, praying that he would get my email before heading off to another battle. A knot of dread twisted my stomach as I sent the message a few minutes later. All I could do now was wait...

And sometimes, I just _hated_ waiting.

**0-0-0-0-0-0**

After getting into my new pajamas, brushing my teeth, and re-reading all of the information reagarding my investigation on my laptop, I was lying on the couch, my head resting on a rather fluffy pillow. I looked up at the ceiling, trying to ease my worry by counting sheep.

Sheep...that reminded me so much of Yamada Tatsumori and how he as the Zodiarts of the Ram caused all of this. If he didn't tell Ryusei to kill Gentaro, things would've been different. Then again, all of this was also Ryusei's fault for _accepting_ that stupid deal in the first place. Just because the demon was able to give what he wanted, doesn't meant that Ryusei wouldn't regret his actions sooner or later. Look what happened to Eve after she believed Satan's word of the fruit on the Tree of Knowledge—bye bye paradise.

I rolled to the side, and saw Haruto sleeping on the sofa across from me. I was jealous at him—he could be so calm and sleep easily despite having so much trauma in his life. If only I could sleep easily right now...

Even worse, I was still feeling strange from our time together, short as it may be. It was probably attributed to Haruto alleviating most of my stress. In fact, I hadn't felt so happy aside from being with JK. These past few days were tiring from me going through school, checking up information on Gentaro, finding replies from KRSwan, etc. Even with the okonomiyaki dinner JK and I had two nights ago, I wasn't really happy. I mean, it wasn't every day that I find my best friend is going to be a Kamen Rider who wields guns and all that. Things were just going by so quickly, like I was spinning round and round a tornado without being able to come back to Earth.

Brushing those thoughts aside, I took a deep breath and exhaled. Then, focusing on meeting with JK in Kyoto in my mind, I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.


	11. Stonewall

**SplitxEnd**

**Split 11: Stonewall**

"_Sometimes, I think if you get away from what you're called to do, it's more of a distraction."_

_-Joel Osteen_

When I woke up the next morning, it wasn't from my cellphone's built-in alarm clock (seeing as my cellphone was destroyed the day before). Instead, I was awoken by Koyomi, who handed me my breakfast on a tray. It was a simple bowl of miso soup, daikon pickles, grilled fish, and a bowl of rice mixed with raw egg. I thanked her and began to eat, trying to calm my anxious stomach before I started throwing up everywhere. The information that I gave JK was so important, and I just really hoped that he knew what was going on.

After I finished eating, Koyomi handed me some new clothes. It consisted of some sort of fortune teller's garb of a a patchwork skirt, a white blouse, a pair of brown boots and a red scarf to wrap around my head. When I asked why she was giving me such a strange outfit, she answered, "So you will be able to change your future when the time comes." I thanked her and went to the bathroom to change into my new outfit. Once I had the scarf tied around my head, I looked in the mirror and thought to myself, "I looked so different."

This whole thing reminded me of an old idiom, "Clothes make the man". By wearing a fortuneteller's garb, would that mean that I could do something to make me stand guard and fight this madness? I was still afraid that I wouldn't be strong enough to do anything. But..I wasn't doing this alone. Haruto was going to be there to help me.

With that thought in mind, I walked out of the bathroom to see Haruto waiting for me. He took a good look at the outfit and walked around me, even running his hand down the ends of the scarf as if he was a kitten playing with tassels. It was a bit...embarassing, to say the least.

"I had no idea Koyomi had this type of outfit on her," he noted. "It looks like you're off on a new venture."

"I guess you can say that," I replied, staring at Haruto's black and white striped shirt, black jacket, red pants and sneakers. "And I guess you are the suburban knight ready to whisk me into adventure through the alleyways of yesteryear?"

"If I may," said Haruto, bowing toward towards me. "Your carriage awaits."

Or it should've. At that moment, someone opened the doors to the Antique Shop...and it was the last person the two of us wanted to see. It was an old man wearing a black biker jacket and a motorcycle helmt covering his white hair. Covering his eyes were a pair of sunglasses with red tints. He curled his hand into a fist as he pointed a finger right at me.

"You have something that belongs to my grandson," The man snarled. "Give it back!"

"G-Goro Kisaragi?" I stammered out, instantly realizing what he meant. "Look, I'm really sorry about that, but I had to know and-"

"That knowledge was to be kept secret!" Goro spat out, closing the door. "Do you know what you have discovered?"

"Do you know that this could've been avoided if you didn't leave the window open?" Haruto noted.

"That can't be right! I closed the window shut two days ago. No one could've entered."

"They did, apparently," I replied. "But we're getting ahead of ourselves, Goro-san. Your grandson is something called the White Crow of the Veil and-"

Goro raised his hand and a burst of white energy escaped it. Haruto pushed me to the ground just in time, just as it hit a marble figurine of a young girl with a parasol in hand, the figurine exploding into chunks of marble that fell to the ground with a clatter. I saw Wajima approach the noise in alarm.

"What's going on? What is-" Wajima turned to Goro. "You...are you a descendant of Asclepius?"

Goro removed his sunglasses and glared at Wajima. I felt my heart pounding against my chest, afraid that I would probably faint out of fear from what was to come. Haruto took my hand into his, squeezing it gently.

"Take a deep breath," he whispered. "Everything will be all right."

I nodded my head and closed my eyes, doing my best to not let my emotions take over. After a minute or two of complete silence, I opened them and saw Goro and Wajima on the sofas, the two of them ready to discuss something of great importance. Wajima turned to Haruto and I, motioning us to come sit down.

"Have a seat you two," he said. "There is more to Gentaro Kisaragi than meets the eye."

Haruto helped me to my feet as we both sat down on the sofa. Koyomi came to us, carrying a tray of teacups and hot tea for everyone to share. As she began pouring, Goro began to speak.

"I am sorry for intruding on you unexpectedly," he said. "But I cannot just let anyone know about the family secret. So when you intruded into my own residence and stole something that belonged to my grandson, I had every right to go after you and take back what was rightfully his."

"So Wajima was right all along," I said, turning to the antique shop owner. "But, Wajima-san, how did you even know about the white-haired descendants in the first place?"

"I travel, and I learned lots of things," Wajima answered, a mysterious smile on his face as he saw Koyomi finish pouring his cup of tea. "I was in Greece for a few years, where I found the tome regarding Asclepius's past. He was once a revered figure and healer loved by all until the people he loved left him so Zeus could strike a bolt of lightning down on him. What Zeus did not suspect was the presence of the Serpent known as Ophiuchus and how Asclepius was resurrected."

"But wait a minute," said Haruto. "If Asclepius is dead and both Goro and Gentaro are descendants of him, how is that possible? He had to have married and his wife had to bear a child for the line to continue."

"He did marry," Goro answered. "And when Asclepius was resurrected, husband and wife tended to their son for a single year until Zeus figured out what happened, and decided to 'atone' for his ways."

"And by that, you mean put Asclepius into the heavens as a constellation and call him 'Ophiuchus the Serpent-bearer', right?" I said. At that point, Koyomi finished pouring the tea and began to leave. I mouthed a "thank you" to her, and she smiled back.

"Yes," said Goro, nodding his head. He took a cup of tea into his hand and continued. "The wife knew all of Asclepius's spells of healing and taught everything she knew to her son. Then at the beginning of each generation, the spells are taught and improved so that we all continue Asclepius's teachings. Every member of the bloodline carries a trait that involves 'healing' in a way. As you can see, I repair motorcycles for a living and Gentaro healed people's souls by befriending them."

"But what about Gentaro's parents? We don't know what they do...do you?" I held the diary in my hands and handed it to Goro. "I read that diary front and back, and Gentaro never mentions his parents aside from their death. Either he's hiding something, or he doesn't _know_. But you have to—one of them was your child, right?"

Goro took the diary into his hands before staring into my eyes. He then sighed and lowered his hand.

"Even I don't know what they did," he answered. "It regarded creation and so much technological terms that flew pass my head. Wait..." Goro placed a hand on his forehead, closing his eyes as he tried to gather a very important memory into his mind. "I remember something...OSTO..."

"OSTO?" Haruto repeated. "That must be some sort of special organization. Better remember that for later."

I nodded my head as I folded my hands over my skirt. There was still so much that was needed to be said, but there was something just nagging me...it regarded Gentaro and maybe even a bit of Asclepius as well.

"About the White Crow of the Veil," I said, recalling Gentaro's diary entry. "Has this happened before? And if so, why do the Sages of Asclepius have the right to bear that name?"

"Asclepius was a son of Apollo, first and foremost," Goro explained. "And the sacred white crow whose feathers were darkened into the color of shadows casted its mortal body sometime after Asclepius was sent to the heavens. Because it failed in serving the Gods, the crow was determined to serve Apollo's kin until it could repent for his crimes. Thus, the White Crow is reincarnated once every few centuries to fulfill this duty."

"But why do all descendants have white hair?"

"It is a symbol of Asclepius's pure heart and ideals, even as he laid dying. The black is a reminder of Apollo's punishment and of how life could change in a fleeting moment. Gentaro was no stranger to this, considering what happened to his parents."

"And the ability to see ghosts," said Haruto, drinking his own tea. "Why does this 'White Crow of the Veil' have it?"

"Because the White Crow is the messenger to the afterlife itself," Wajima answered. "Combined with the White Crow's sacrifice and promise to pay for his crimes, what better way than to help those who can no longer help themselves?"

"And Ophiuchus? Why Gentaro? Why did he have to resurrect him of all people? Was it because he was the White Crow of the Veil?"

"Perhaps," Goro took a sip of his tea. "But I think that Ophiuchus just wanted someone who held Asclepius's blood in his veins to enact whatever it is he wants to enact. There are no records as to what happened to Ophiuchus after Asclepius's passing, but if he here now, then I fear that the world will suffer his wrath."

"And we better head off," Haruto took my hand and stood up. "We have information to give to Yayoi's friends and we have to go before they start killing each other. Thank you for your time."

"Be careful out there," Goro placed a hand on Haruto's shoulder and stared into his eyes. "My eyesight is getting old, but I can still see things that most humans never see."

"Like what?" I whispered. "Is it about JK? Or Ophiuchus? What do you see?"

"Something long and floating in the air..." he said. "And there's a figure in white also. I also see...gold eyes and a fire. Be careful, dear sir. You are going into dangerous waters, young man." Goro then placed a hand on my shoulder. "Young lady, you must be strong. The events that your friend will be going through will need you to keep him from falling deep into despair."

I highly doubt that Haruto could even _feel_ despair right now. Or maybe he was feeling despair and was putting on this chipper mask to not only cheer me up, but to cheer himself also. After all, I didn't know what it's like to have some sort of strange dragon thing inside you, ready to take over your body whenever you were in despair. Who was I to judge?

Haruto just nodded his head as he helped me stand up. I waved goodbye as Haruto opened the doors and went to the Machine Winger. I felt so nervous now—could I tell JK what was going on in time? Would he be all right?

"Just stay by my side, and things will go all right," said Haruto, tossing a helmet into my hands. "Hop on. We have no time to lose."

I nodded my head and hopped on, wrapping my arms around Haruto's stomach. With Haruto, I felt more at ease with myself. I could be near an erupting volcano with him and I wouldn't be scared. He had this strange calming aura surrounding him that made me feel as if nothing could stand in my way.

I heard the motorcycle roar as we drove off toward Kyoto, becoming the messengers that would spread the news about Gentaro's tragic past. Nothing could stand in our way.

**0-0-0-0-0-0**

As we reached closer to Kyoto, the butterflies in my stomach appeared once more. Suddenly, I didn't feel so confident in regards to the plan.

"Are you sure you can handle this, Haruto?" I asked him over the roar of the motorcycle's engine. "Gentaro's a Kamen Rider who has a multitude of weapons at his disposal, not to mention that Ophiuchus is channeling anger and hatred through him. Ophiuchus is still angry over what happened millennia ago and…"

"We'll save him in time," Haruto quickly answered. "We'll be the one who give him hope."

"You say that so easily, but you don't even know what he can do."

Just as Haruto was about to answer, I heard the motorcycle slowly skid to a stop. I looked over his shoulder to see a strange person in front of us, dressed in a grey hooded cloak. Haruto got off of the Machine Winger and approached them.

"Do you mind getting out of the way for a moment?" He asked. "My friend and I are on some important business."

"Where are you going and why?" asked the grey cloaked figure, pulling out a deck of cards from her sleeve. She began to shuffle them while she spoke. "Why are you in such a rush? Live for what you have. _Carpe diem!_"

"It's nice that someone knows a little bit of Latin, but we need to go," I hopped out of the motorcycle and went to Haruto's side. "Kyoto is in grave danger and..."

"That's not the only thing in grave danger, is it?" The cloaked figure giggled and removed her hood, revealing a young girl with brown hair and gold eyes. Then, I saw the shadow beneath her feet transformed into a large grey serpent with golden eyes. At the same time, the world around us faded into hues of grey.

"And who are you?" asked Haruto, taking a step closer toward the strange person. "What do you want with us?"

"I am Mei Shirakawa, the Serpent-bearer to my mistress," The girl replied, tossing her deck of cards everywhere. They fluttered to the ground like cherry blossoms. "And my mistress bears the name of Divine Fortuneteller Renenutet. Isn't that correct?"

I was completely speechless as I saw this giant Serpent stare at us, as if we became offerings to her. I was trying my hardest not to show fear, and at the same time I felt like I was going to cry because I was so afraid about what was going to happen. I could barely get the words out as I said, "I thought Ophiuchus was the only Serpent here."

"He has business in Kyoto today," Renenutet explained, leaning close to me. I could see my reflection in her eyes, highlighting the danger I became involved in. "And he gave me an offering to ensure that no outside forces can interfere with his plans. As his older sister, I shall oblige to what he wants."

"Older sister? But...but..."

"You didn't really think that Ophiuchus was the only serpent here, right?" Renenutet let out a laugh that sounded joyous, yet was still sadistic and cruel. "You are a naïve, little girl. What are you doing on a day like this?"

"We're here to stop this madness before it's too late!" I answered, taking a step forward. I was scared, but I wouldn't let my fear take over. "So now..."

"Yayoi," said Haruto, bringing up an arm. I stopped as he turned to me and said, "This isn't something you need to get involved in. I only brought you here to bring the information to your friend, not to fight." He stepped toward Mei, slipping a ring onto his right ring finger. "Shall we dance, dear lady?"

Mei laughed, placing a hand near her face as if this was so amusing to her. Then, she sighed before raising a hand. One of the cards that littered the ground started to wobble before it flew straight toward her hand.

"Very well," she said. "Here's a little game to play: Tarot pick-up. We each pick up one card and state what it is. The goal is to defeat your opponent with the right card combinations and to see whether or not fate is on your side. If you win, you two will gain access to Kyoto. If not..." Mei smirked. "That is for me to decide, is it not?"

Renenutet vanished as Mei laughed. Haruto just narrowed his eyes and I placed a hand over my heart.

"We shall see," he said, placing his right hand over the hand-shaped belt buckle on his waist.

**Driver On, Please.**

A silver belt appeared around Haruto's waist as he slipped a ring with a large ruby onto his left ring finger. He flipped the two tabs on the belt, changing the position of the hand to the left as a silver ring of light turned on.

"What the..." I began, trying to make sense as to what was happening. "Haruto...what are you?"

Haruto smiled as he flipped the silver casing over the ruby ring. Mei tilted her head in curiosity, and so did I.

"Henshin," he simply stated, placing his left hand over the large hand buckle.

**Flame, Please! Hii! Hii! Hii-Hii-Hii!**

A large red circle of runes encased Haruto, transforming his black jacket and red pants into a long black suit, pants and longcoat. Covering his face was a helm similar to a large ruby, and his chest had armor designed to look like similar red jewels. I looked in awe. I remembered how he was given the power to be a wizard, but I never expected the transformation in front of my eyes!

"What is that?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

"Call me Wizard," said Haruto turning his gaze to me. He then turned back to Mei and said pointed a finger at her saying, "Now, it's showtime."


	12. Sacrifice

**SplitxEnd**

**Split 12: Sacrifice**

"_Life is a song – sing it._

_Life is a game – play it._

_Life is a challenge – meet it._

_Life is a dream – realize it._

_Life is a sacrifice – offer it._

_Life is love – enjoy it."_

_-Sai Baba._

If it wasn't the fact that I pinched myself just seconds after Haruto, or rather Wizard, said, "It's showtime", I would've had every right to tell myself that this was nothing more than a horrifying dream and that none of it was real.

I watched as Mei picked up a card and announcing its name: III The Empress. I didn't know what to exact from some twisted game of 52 pick-up until I saw a large version of the empress wielding her scepter and sheild emerge from the card. It reminded me of an anime about strange devices that created large holographic images of cards when people fought. Except instead of technology and lights, the image was created by the powers of an ancient Serpent...which, in retrospect was also used in the anime's history of Ancient Egypt. Funny how my life was imitating the show at the very worst of times.

"The inverted Empress states that you're using your talents for the very wrong things," Mei explained, pointing a finger. "Isn't that right...Yayoi?"

Upon hearing Mei utter my name, I soon realized that I was now involved in this mad game. I was paralyzed—I couldn't move. This must've been the same feeling JK had when Ryusei killed Gentaro, and the type of thing that caused this madness in the first place. The Empress from the card had her scepter ready to cast a magic spell to sweep me off my feet, knocking me unconscious or, at the worst, killing me.

Wizard must've noticed my fear and went to a card. He held it into the air and cried, "VII The Lovers, upright!"

I felt like blushing at the name of that card. Out of all the cards that he had to draw on his first turn, it's the one that I wanted to go against. I didn't want to love him because it wasn't the time for it. Plus what I felt wasn't love—it was just being thankful for saving me from harm, that's all.

I saw a figure of a man and woman shielded by an angel with a fiery sword. Wizard wrapped his arms around me, enforcing the whole idea of the Lovers card and making me blush like mad. This wasn't the time to think about love.

"It's going to be all right," Wizard whispered in my ear. "I won't let Mei harm you."

That was when I realized that I needed to fight. I couldn't let myself be like this—I needed to fight, and I needed to do it now.

"No," I told Wizard, I stared into Mei's eyes and added, "I'm joining this fight right now!"

The two enlarged tarot cards vanished as I spied a card to my left. I picked it up and stared at it: it was XI Justice.

"XI Justice, inverted!" I shouted, raising my card into the air. "What will justice show you today?"

"Suffering of injustice?" Mei answered. She scoffed. "Don't need it." Another card flew from the ground into her hand. "VIII Strength, Upright!"

A set of scales and a sword appeared in my hands, while Mei had a garland of flowers around her head, and a white lion by her side. She rushed toward me while Wizard had to contend with the large feline. I didn't have time to react as Mei launched into a football tackle, pinning me to the ground and using her newfound strength to strangle me. With all the strength I could muster, I whacked her on the side of the head with the scales. That seemed to do the trick as I immediately used my new sword to stab a nearby card and raising it into the air.

"XII The Hanged Man, Upright!" I cried. "This ends here!"

Mei slowly sat up and suddenly gasped as a large vine wrapped around her ankle. The vine grew around a large tree where she dangled like a yo-yo. With her distracted, I could probably make her concede defeat if it looked like I was going to kill her. So I rushed toward her. Unfortunately, she must've thought the same thing as she willed another card to rise into her hand.

"XVI The Tower, Upright!" she announced. "Smite my enemy where they stand and make them realize that they're being nothing more than selfish, little pricks!"

There was the sound of thunder as a mass of storm clouds began to form over my head. Dodging a bolt of lightning aimed at my feet, I rolled toward a card and held it in the air.

"Four of Wands...Inverted?" I gasped, seeing the rejoicing carolers and canopy of flowers upside down. "What does that mean?"

"Good attitudes bring good outcomes," Mei snarled, narrowing her eyes. "Lucky you..."

Four beautiful wands emerged and created a barrier that deflected the lightning toward the lion that Wizard was fighting. The lion was reduced to ashes in less than a second.

"What the..." asked Wizard, turning to the fight, seeing how I was involved in his battles. "Yayoi, what are you doing?"

"Trying to prove that she can actually do something," Mei replied, swinging back as she was still affected by my Hanged Man card. With the momentum, she picked up another card and smiled. "But this is where she meets her end: Eight of Swords, Upright! Bind her with her fears and her anxieties! Kill her where she stands!"

Strips of white cloth emerged from the ground, binding my arms, legs and blindfolding me. Great, I was about to be sacrificed to the Egyptian Gods. No matter how hard I moved, the cloth grew tighter and tighter. For some odd reason, I thought I could hear it whispering in my ear. I didn't want to focus on that while I was awaiting my death by eight pointy swords.

**Defend, Please.**

A hand pulled the cloth away from my face, and I stared face to face to Wizard's jeweled helm. He had his arm around me and an arm stretched out. A wall of fire shielded us both from the swords, melting them into metallic goo. I felt my heart beat faster because Wizard was with me.

"Don't worry about a thing," he said to me. "Your knight in shining armor has arrived."

No. I didn't want anyone to save me. I wanted to save myself from this madness.

"I...I don't want you to save me all the time!" I told him, my face still red. I picked up a card and tossed it into the air. "Three of Swords, Inverted! Come forth, Lord of Sorrow!"

Three swords pierced by a heart emerged and flew toward Mei, spiraling into a large drill to pierce through her heart. Unfortunately, Mei had already picked up a card during the commotion of Wizard saving me and smiled.

"Come forth, inverted King of Swords!" she announced. "Strike down the Gem Wizard and the evil he shall soon spread."

Evil:? But Wizard wasn't evil...Mei was probably perceiving him as evil because he opposed her. Still, there was no time to ponder the ideas of good and evil as the king engaged Wizard in a sword match. That was when I saw the weapon in Wizard's hand—a large silver gun with a hand near the barrel. Then, he placed a hand near the giant hand scanner and a blade popped out. Very interesting weapon, if you asked me.

"Six of Wands, Upright! Victory is mine!"

Mei's declaration brought me back to what I needed to do. So I brought up another card into the air, determined to fight this battle until the bitter end.

"I The Magician, Upright!" I exclaimed. "I will decide my fate! I won't die by your hands!"

The scales and sword became a shining crystal with a glowing tip. I drew the infinity symbol in the air, erecting a barrier that shielded me from the six swords ready to pierce my heart. I had no idea why Mei was constantly devoted to the Sword cards of the Minor Arcana, but I still had to be on my toes. At this point, I could see Mei become so infuriated with me. I really hope that was a good sign.

"Queen of Swords, Upright!" she screamed. "BRING HER DOWN!"

The female counterpart of the King of Swords materialized, her weapon of choice ready to slice me in half. I wasn't worried. I summoned a large golden pentacle that acted as my personal shield just as the sword was about to hit me. Instead, the queen fell and I stood tall.

"I'm not going to go down easily," I told Mei. "You'll have to put a bit more effort to knock me off my feet."

"You're right," Mei replied, picking up a card. She didn't summon its name, but instead asked me a single question. "Do you know the significance of the number four?"

"Every child knows that," I replied. The word for '4' could be read as _shi_ which was also the same way to say 'death'. Still, I couldn't keep my guard down, and clenched the crystal in my hand. "Why do you ask?"

Mei didn't want to answer my question, so I began to do some mental math in my head. A tarot deck held 78 cards and there were only six cards that could hold a 4: IV The Emperor, XIV Temperance and the Four of Swords, Cups, Coins and Wands. Out of the 78 cards in total, only 8 were used. This meant that Mei didn't have a .1% chance to draw the right card. She was bluffing.

"I knew you'd think I was joking," Mei replied. I gasped as she revealed a Four of Swords and its image of a man resting in prayer.

"I'm going to end this," she said. "Four of Swords, Upright!"

Four swords materialized, each of them ready to skewer me in different places. For a moment, I thought I could see the look of terror in my eyes in one of the blades, but there was no time to ponder this as Mei fired her weapons. With a wave of my hand, I su mmoned the other items used by the Magician: A sword, a wand, and a goblet. Each of the weapons fought the swords in their own special way: the want fired a bolt of lightning, the swords swung and slashed toward another, and the goblet poured water onto the third one. The fourth one...

Wait...where did the fourth one go?

I looked back and forth, trying to find the last sword that was going after me. Or...what if it wasn't going after me? What if it was going after...

"HARUTO!" I screamed, turning toward Wizard fighting off the King of Swords. I concentrated on creating a Pentacle shield to save him, but I was too slow. The sword zoomed through the air and pierced straight into his chest. I could only watch in horror as Wizard's armor faded and all that was left was Haruto Souma, with that dreaded fourth sword impaling through his heart.

"No...no this can't be happening!" I screamed, rushing to Haruto's side. I clasped onto his hand as the tears began to fall down my face. "You have to stay alive! You just have to!"

"Y-Yayoi," Haruto sputtered out, blood falling down his lips. He turned to me and placed a hand on my cheek. "I'm sorry...I couldn't be your knight..."

"Stop babbling chivalry talk!" I exclaimed, seeing the grey world disappear. I placed my hands over his own. "You have to live! Isn't there a ring you have that can heal yourself? You have to bring hope! Please...don't leave me!"

The time we spent together was so short, but I wanted it to last longer. This wasn't supposed to be how it end...

"Yayoi..." Haruto turned to me, trying his best to smile. "I'm sorry..."

I saw his eyes close and his hand drop to the ground. It took all of my willpower not to scream at the heavens for taking Haruto from me. It took everything I had for me not to cry.


End file.
